What She Deserves
by Firestarterchik
Summary: Lucas comes back from Charleston, will he be able to get together with Peyton? My own version of Season 2. Eventually Leyton with some Naley thrown in.
1. Arrivals and Departures

**A/N: First of all, I don't own One Tree Hill or any of the characters. I'm just borrowing them for the purposes of entertainment. Second of all, this is my second story on here and I hope it's as good (or better) than my first. Season two of OTH was a terrible LP season and I hate whenever it comes around on SOAPnet. So I decided that I was going to write how I wish it had gone. Season one is intact. Everything that happened on the show happened. But this starts right after the season one finale. Haley and Nathan got married, Deb and Keith had sex and Dan caught them, Lucas and Keith took off to Charleston, Dan had his heart attack, Jake left with Jenny, and Brooke and Peyton started mending their broken friendship. This is going to be Leyton heavy and it's not going to focus too much on the other characters... sorry. But enough babbling from me, onto the story-**

**________________________________**

Brooke stepped into her best friend's room to find the artist on her bed putting one of her drawings up on her wall.

Peyton turned and looked at her best friend, her hands on her hip in mock annoyance. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"I've heard about it," Brooke quipped. "But I don't need to knock. I knew you would want to let me in, so I decided to save you the trouble of having to open the door."

"Ah, Brooke Davis, the humanitarian."

"So, let's go, Goldilocks," Brooke said, pulling Peyton off of her bed.

"Go where?"

"Out," Brooke said as if it explained everything. "Does it matter? You and I are hanging out, isn't everything else just details?"

Peyton laughed but then she grew solemn. As bad as she wanted to hang out with Brooke as if nothing had happened, she knew that keeping secrets from her best friend was not the way to get her friendship with the bubbly brunette back on track.

"Brooke, hold on a sec."

"What's up, P. Sawyer?"

Peyton went over to her bag and pulled out the letter that Lucas had left them. She handed Brooke the sealed envelope. "I found this on my door."

Brooke looked down at it and recognized the handwriting. "Lucas."

"Yeah," Peyton nodded. "I was debating on whether or not I should tell you about it, but I want you to be able to trust me again Brooke. And hopefully this goes a long way to helping you and me get back to that."

Brooke handed the letter back to Peyton. "You didn't open it. Why?"

"Because it's addressed to both us, Brooke," she answered. "It wouldn't have been right for me to just read it."

"No, I guess not," Brooke agreed. "But it is Lucas we're talking about. You've done some things that haven't been right because of him."

"I know and I'm so sorry about that," Peyton told her, still feeling guilty over her transgressions against her friend. "I just want us to be how we used to be."

"Me too," Brooke told her. She glared at the letter in Peyton's hand. "Leave it to Broody to find a way to bother us even after he took off. But you know what? It doesn't matter. Leave the letter. You and I are going to forget all about it for now and have a fabulous girls' day out and we'll worry about _that_ later tonight."

"Sounds perfect," Peyton said, dropping the letter on her bed.

-----

Haley took Nathan's hand. They were standing at the entrance of the hospital. It seemed like just yesterday they had been there because of Lucas. But now Lucas was gone and it was Dan who was in critical care.

"Just let me know when you're ready," Haley told her husband. She knew that he had been trying to put off visiting his father for as long as possible. And she was more than happy to allow him, but she also knew that he needed to be there for his mother.

"I don't know when I'll ever be ready, Hales!" Nathan told her. "I don't know if I'll ever be ready. This is Dan we're talking about. He's an ass. His sole purpose seems to make everyone around him miserable."

"I know," Haley told him, soothingly. "But he's also your father."

Nathan nodded. "I'm mad at him. He was such a jerk to me and Lucas at the game and he was a dick to you and an asshole to my mom. But I'm still scared that he's not going to make it. Why is that? How can he be such a horrible person and have me still care about him?"

Haley hugged him tight, making sure he knew that she was right there with him. "Because in spite of whatever Dan has made you believe, you are a good person, Nathan. And your heart is so good and pure. It's part of why I fell in love with you."

"Why else did you fall in love with me?" Nathan asked her, happy to be able to talk about something other than his father for a second.

"Because you have an amazing body and are fairly decent at basketball," she told him, biting back a smile. "Oh, and because you're great in bed."

Nathan laughed at that. "Speaking of which, why don't you let me take you home and show you how good I can be?"

"Nice try, Romeo. You promised your mother that you would stop by," she told him. "Come on, the sooner we do it, the easier it's going to be for you."

"Does that hold true for telling my mom about us?" Nathan asked, showing his wife his wedding ring-clad finger.

"No," Haley said quickly. "I think we should sit on that bit of news until at least we know your dad is going to be okay. I don't think your mom will be able to take it if we spring this news on her while all this stuff is going on."

"You're right," he said. Nathan took a deep breath and looked at the supposed place of healing before him. "I'm so lucky to have you, Haley. I don't know how I would be doing if you weren't with me right now."

"We're both lucky," Haley said, taking his hand again. She raised his left hand and kissed his ring. He smiled and did the same to her. "I love you, Nathan."

"I love you, Haley."

------

Lucas looked out at his new town. Charleston was a very nice place and he knew that with time, he'd grow to love living there. But Lucas also knew that there would never be a time when this town would ever be home to him. No, home would always be that small town in North Carolina where his mother, his best friend, and the love of his life resided.

At the thought of the three women he loved most in the world, his stomach turned. He had been gone for less than a day but already he missed all of them terribly. But it was because of them that he had decided to move to the new town with his uncle.

Lucas was no longer the same man who was worthy of the women's attention or affection and he needed space to find his way back to that. He needed to be the guy that his mother his mother raised him to be; the guy that Haley would be proud of; the guy that would be deserving of another chance with Peyton Sawyer.

He was such an idiot! The girl that he had wanted for YEARS had given him a chance and he had blown it. Several times, in fact. He had been impatient and selfish and completely uncaring of other people's feelings. Had he been bitter as well, he could have been a clone of his father. And that bothered him. Lucas had spent too much time in his life hating Dan to even be able to stomach the idea of becoming anything like him.

So that's why he was there in Charleston. He was running away from the Lucas Scott he had become. He was going to start anew in this place miles away from where he had grown up and maybe he'd find his way back to her.

He checked his watch. It was getting late and he had promised Keith that he'd be back before lunchtime. He sighed and made his way into the new apartment. It was nothing like his mother's house in Tree Hill, but that was part of its charm.

"Keith?" Lucas called as he closed the door behind him.

Keith came into view, his face pale, with his cell phone pressed to his ear. He signaled for Lucas to give him a minute and Lucas nodded.

"How are you holding up?" Keith asked the person on the other line. He was quiet as he listened to the reply. "Is there anything I can do?"

Lucas felt himself grow cold. Something was wrong, he could tell. Keith was looking very serious and that scared him. He didn't want to interrupt the conversation his uncle was having, but if Keith didn't get off the phone soon, Lucas was going to scream.

Keith, oblivious to how Lucas was suffering, continued the conversation. "Are you sure? Because I'll do anything to help. Just say the word." Keith fell silent again for a short while. "Okay, but call me if you need anything and keep me updated. I'll call and check in on you later. Goodbye."

The blond boy watched as his uncle sighed unhappily before he hung up the cell phone. The expression on the older man's face was unreadable. Keith took a deep breath and met eyes with his nephew. "We need to talk."

Lucas forced out a chuckled and struggled to keep his tone light, "That's never good. Are you breaking up with me because of the new haircut, Keith?"

The older man ignored his nephew's poor attempt at humor. "That was Deb on the phone. She called to say that Dan had a heart attack last night."

"What? Did he… I mean, is he okay?" Lucas felt himself tumbling over his words as shock invaded his brain.

"Dan's alive, just barely. He's in a coma right now and the doctors' are taking a 'wait and see' approach." Keith sighed and wrapped an arm around his nephew's shoulders. "Deb's a mess and apparently the news hit Nathan pretty hard."

Lucas nodded. "I can imagine." And he could. Even as much as Lucas disliked Dan, he was still his father. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Actually, there is," Keith said. His expression was solemn with a tinge of sadness in it. "You need to go home, Luke, back to Tree Hill."

"I guess," Lucas started. "But we can't just go back. I left for a reason and the reason is still there. And you have your new job and-"

Keith cut him off. "I'm not going back, Lucas. But you are."

"What?"

"Nathan is your brother and he needs you right now. You're the only one who knows what he's going through."

"But you're not coming? Dan's YOUR brother and he needs you, too!"

Keith smirked. "Weren't you just saying that I couldn't go back because of my new job? Besides, I am doing what I think my brother needs right now."

"By staying here?" Lucas shook his head. "I don't understand-"

"That's right, you don't!" Keith closed his eyes. His guilt over his night with Deb was getting to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that. It's just there are things that you don't know and I just need you to trust my judgment on this, okay?"

The blond boy nodded. "I do trust you. I just don't know how I feel about just going back." Lucas thought of the letter that he had left Brooke and Peyton. He visibly cringed at the idea of seeing them again. There was no way he was going to be able to face either of them so soon after they had read what he had written to them.

"Too bad that it's not up for discussion, then," Keith told him. "Grab your stuff, Luke, we're leaving in half an hour."

-----

"Are you sure about this?" Brooke asked her best friend.

Peyton looked up from the sealed envelope that was sitting on the table between the two of them. "Not really. Are you?"

"To be honest, I'm not either," Brooke said, picking up the envelope and putting it down again. "Broody sucks."

"I'm not disagreeing with that one," Peyton told her. "You know, I want to open this thing and find out what he wrote because that boy could be so sensitive and romantic and… whatever. But then I worry that it was just a way for his stupid ass to hurt us again."

"Hurt you again, maybe," Brooke said, pointing at Peyton. "Not me. I'm done with him. I gave him my heart and he proved he wasn't worthy of it, so I'm totally over him."

Peyton looked over at Brooke with admiration. "You're a hell of a woman, B. Davis," the blond told her friend.

"And don't you forget it, P. Sawyer," Brooke said.

Peyton reached over and took Brooke's hand and squeezed it. "I missed you, you know? Just hanging out, being best friends. Lucas came between us once and I'm afraid that if we read this letter it's going to happen again."

Brooke shook her head. "That's not going to happen."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Many reasons," Brooke said, grabbing the envelope off the table again. "For one, we aren't going to read it. There's no way I'm going to let Lucas Scott have the last word. For two, I don't want him anymore, so if you want him… he's yours."

Peyton blushed. Did she still want him? She was angry at him, sure, but deep down… how did she really feel about him? "I don't know-"

Brooke cut her off. "But most importantly, he's not coming between us because you're my best friend, P. Sawyer and I love you. Hoes over Bros?"

Peyton bumped fists with her friend. "Hoes over Bros."

"Well, now that that's settled, let's go dispose of the trash, shall we?" Brooke asked, waving the letter in her hand.

"Definitely."

----

"I brought you some coffee," Haley said, handing Deb a styrofoam cup. "It's nowhere near as good as Karen's but I snuck this out of the nurse's lounge so you know that it's got to be better to that liquid tar they gave us earlier."

Deb didn't respond and took a sip from the lukewarm drink she had be given. She didn't even bother to acknowledge Haley's presence. In fact, Nathan's mother had all but ignored the young woman from the second she had arrived at the hospital with Nathan.

Haley sighed. This was her new mother-in-law and mother-in-laws are notoriously known for being hard on young wives. But, Haley reminded herself, Deb didn't even know that Nathan and her had gotten married, so there was no real reason for the cold shoulder treatment.

Nathan observed this and shook his head. He knew that his mother was having a tough time with Dan being in the hospital but that didn't excuse her behavior towards Haley. Nathan took his wife in his arms. If his mother wasn't going to thank her properly, then he was. "Thanks, Hales. This means a lot to me, you being here with me."

"Where else would I be?" Haley asked him as he kissed her forehead. "You're here, so there's no place I'd rather be."

"Yeah, I know," Nathan said, lowering his voice and moving away from his mother. "But we're newlyweds. We're supposed to be honeymooning in some overpriced hotel on the beach. Instead, we're in the hospital waiting to see if my dad's going to make it."

Haley took his face in her hands and kissed him softly. "Hey. Where we are, what we're doing, what's going on… none of it matters if we're together. You can't have forgotten what I told you already. It hasn't been that long, has it? Remember? In sickness and in health; for better or for worse, I'm here for you, Nathan."

"Always and forever?" Nathan asked her.

Haley responded to his question with another kiss. They parted and Nathan smiled at his new wife. That kiss had been all the answer he needed.

Deb watched her son and his girlfriend together. She wished she was young and naïve enough to believe in true love again. She was older, wiser, and very jaded now. And it was all thanks to the bastard lying in the bed who didn't have the decency to just die. But she knew Dan. That man was a cockroach. Nothing short of a nuclear bomb would stop him.

The older Scott woman swallowed hard. She was furious with Dan, but she was also drowning in her guilt. She couldn't help to think that this was all her fault. Her and Keith's. She had called her brother-in-law because she knew that he would be able to understand how she was feeling and she needed that. But even so, she hoped that Keith stayed far away from Tree Hill. He had gotten away and she didn't want him getting pulled back in.

But there he was. Deb raised her eyes to see Keith standing there. Haley and Nathan were so absorbed in each other that they didn't notice the presence of Dan's brother. Deb rose from her seat and made her way over to him.

She took his arm and led him away from the room. When they were sufficiently far enough away, Deb released her grip on Keith.

"What are you doing here?" Deb hissed at him. "I told you to stay in Charleston! Why did you have to come back?"

Keith sighed. He knew that Deb was going to react like that. "I'm not staying, Deb," he told her. "I just came to drop Lucas off. But since I was here, I wanted to check up on you. To see how you were holding up."

Relaxing slightly, Deb slumped against her brother-in-law. "I'm not holding up at all," she said, truthfully. "I feel like I'm suffocating. I don't know what to do. I just want to run away and leave all this behind."

"Why don't you?" Keith asked her. "You said that Dan signed the divorce papers, so just go, Deb. Leave if that's what you need to do."

Deb's eyes widened. She couldn't just take off like that. Actually, no, she could. If she didn't want to be here, she didn't have to be.

She hugged Keith. "Thank you. Listen, you've done so much for me already and I really hate to ask you for another favor but…"

Keith wrapped his arms around her. "I'll drop you off wherever you need me to."

------

Brooke and Peyton sat in front of the little campfire that they had built. Well, that Peyton all the work but Brooke had the very important job of supervising. And that, Brooke had assured Peyton, was very tiring work.

Peyton dug her toes in the sand. The unopened letter sat between the two of them and neither one had made a move to throw into the fire yet.

Brooke looked over at her friend. "You okay?"

Peyton forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"Because that smile looks about as fake as your hair," Brooke said.

"Bitch," Peyton responded with a more genuine smile. "No, I'm fine. I was just thinking about how much things changed."

"Because of Lucas?"

"I don't know," Peyton answered. "I guess."

Brooke scooted over until she could wrap an arm around the blonde's shoulders. "You miss him, don't you?"

"A little," she admitted to her brunette friend. "Do you hate me?"

"Not at all," Brooke told her. "I told you already that you could have him if you wanted him. I've decided that I'm not doing the boyfriend thing for a while. I'm going to have fun and hook up, mind you, but no emotional entanglements. They're too hard."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Peyton agreed. "I think I'm going to focus on myself for a while. Maybe it's a good thing that Lucas ran away. It's going to be much easier for me if he's not around trying to confuse and distract me."

Brooke picked up the letter. "Okay, this is your last chance, P. Sawyer. Are you sure you don't want to read the letter?"

"Positive."

Brooke nodded and threw the letter in the fire. The two girls watched as the words written by the boy they had both fallen for burnt away.

"I sure hope it wasn't money," Brooke joked.

"Because what he left on your dresser wasn't enough?" Peyton quipped back.

Brooke's eyes widened but she couldn't contain her smile. "Excuse me but what are you implying, P. Sawyer?"

Peyton stood, grinning. "I think you know what I was implying, B. Davis."

Brooke threw a flip-flop at Peyton who barely managed to jump out of the way. The other shoe, however, hit her square on the leg.

Peyton picked it up from the sand. "You better run," she warned her best friend.

Brooke jumped to her feet, giggling and took off like a rocket. Peyton chased her, holding the shoe in her hand. Their childish actions were halted when they felt a familiar presence there watching them. They both stopped to look at the new arrival.

"Hey," Lucas said, sheepishly.

The girls turned to each other and swallowed hard. They so shouldn't have burnt that letter.


	2. Reunions Aplenty

**A/N: I love reviews, so thank you to those who did. I'm doing this story very much by the seat of my pants so any suggestions and tips are welcomed. Just so you all know. Hope you enjoy chapter two.**

**___________________________**

An older doctor cleared his throat, catching Nathan's attention. He turned away from Haley and looked at the doctor. "Yes?"

The doctor held out his hand. "Nathan Scott, right? You're Dan's son?"

"That's right," Nathan told him, shaking the man's hand.

"I'm Dr. Farrell, your father's doctor," he told the young man. The doctor looked around for his patient's wife. "Do you know where your mother is?"

Nathan shook his head. Apparently his mother had slipped off somewhere while he wasn't paying attention. He wondered why she hadn't let him know that she was leaving. "She's probably at the chapel or something, though."

Dr. Farrell nodded, debating whether or not to discuss the elder Scott's condition with the young man or not. His decision was made for him when his pager went off. "I'll be back in a few minutes, hopefully your mother will have returned by then."

"Sure," Nathan said as he watched the doctor leave.

Haley put her hand on his shoulder. "Jeez, your mother should have totally been a ninja. When did she take off?"

"I don't know," he told her, seriously. "Do you mind waiting here just in case she come back? I'm just going to take a quick look around for her."

As much as Haley was not looking forward to the possibility of being alone with her mother-in-law, she knew she had to do this for her husband. "Yeah, no problem."

"Thank you." He kissed her. Nathan cursed himself for pulling her into his family drama. If he kept testing out the validity of those vows so soon after their wedding, she was going to start reconsidering that whole "til death do us part" thing.

Haley smiled at the tingling sensation she always had after Nathan's lips touched hers. She hoped that Nathan's kisses never lost their effect on her. "You know you don't have to thank me. It part of my job now. Anyway, go and bring your mom back."

"I love you, Haley James."

"That's Haley James-Scott, remember," she corrected him, grinning widely. "And I love you too, Nathan."

-----

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Brooke said.

Lucas took a step forward in her direction with his arms outstretched as if expecting a hug from the brunette. Brooke raised an eyebrow and looked over at Peyton to see her reaction. The blond girl, however, was still reeling from the boy's appearance.

When he realized that there was no embrace in it for him from Brooke, he lowered his arms sheepishly. "Hey there, Pretty Girl, you look good."

"I can't say the same for you," she retorted. "You look terrible. And what the hell happened to your hair?"

Lucas ran his hand over his head. "I kind of thought that I needed a fresh start and that included a new haircut."

"Why aren't you in Charleston?" That had been Peyton. Her voice came off as harsh and the glare she wore meant she wasn't happy he was in town.

Lucas felt his heart break at that. He was in big trouble if she didn't even want to be in the same town with him. "Well, you see, Dan had a heart attack."

Immediately, Peyton's expression softened and she went over to his side and embraced him. "Are you okay?"

Brooke noticed how the two blonds fit together. She had given Broody up and because of that, she could see the two of them with fresh eyes. Watching them, she knew that the two of them belonged together. Brooke was a firm believer in true love and she wasn't going to stand in the way. But then again, Lucas had been a total ass and had treated both girls despicably, so he didn't exactly deserve an epic romance at the moment.

Lucas shook his head and lowered his voice so low that it was only because of Peyton's close proximity to him that she heard him. "I'm not okay, Peyt. Not by a long shot. I'm so scared that he is going to die and I don't want him to. But I'm supposed to hate him, you know? He never once cared about my wellbeing!"

Peyton hugged him closer. "Well, that's not true. From what I hear, he was pretty worried about you during your accident."

Lucas closed his eyes. She was right, but she always was. Maybe it was because she was such a remarkable artist, but she had an uncanny ability to point out the truth to him, no matter how murky it was.

"Keith just dropped me off here," Lucas continued, his voice reaching a normal volume again. "Then he turned the car around and went back to Charleston. He didn't even consider for one second coming back. It's his brother and he's not here for him but he told me that it was important for me to be here for my brother."

Brooke came over and squeezed his arm. "How's Nathan holding up?"

Lucas shrugged, feeling embarrassed at having to be comforted by two girls. "I don't know. I haven't had the courage to head to the hospital just yet."

Peyton pulled away from him. "Well then, let's go."

"What?" Lucas asked. "Where?"

"To the hospital. You need courage, we'll give you courage," the blond girl said. "Nathan needs support? We'll give him that, too."

"Wait," Brooke said. "Are you talking about me going, too?"

"Of course."

"Nope, sorry. Not going to happen, P. Sawyer." Brooke gave her friend a pointed look. "Hospital duty is totally a girlfriend thing. So, I'm bowing out of this excursion."

"Yeah, and you don't have to go either, Peyt." Lucas said. "Nathan's there with Haley and his mom, so he should be okay. I know how much you hate hospitals."

Peyton did hate hospitals but she also hated being alone in her time of need and wouldn't wish that on anyone. Nathan and her may have not had the best relationship, but she still cared very much for the younger Scott brother. It didn't matter if he had a hundred people there, one more person showing him that he is loved was always welcomed.

"Well, I'm going to suck it up," Peyton told him. "I'm going home and changing and then I'm going to the hospital. Who's coming with me?"

----

Nathan stepped out of the hospital. He hadn't been able to find his mother anywhere. Finally one of the nurses had told him that his mother had gone off with some dark-haired gentleman. Nathan took out his cell phone and called his mother. If Deb wasn't in the hospital, surely she'd be able to answer her cell phone.

"Hello?"

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, Mom. Where are you?"

There was silence for a little while before he heard his mother take a deep breath. "I'm not at the hospital right now. Listen, Nathan, we need to talk."

"Talk? About what? Where are you? Dad's doctor came by and wanted to talk to you but you're not here. When are you coming back?"

"I'm not coming back," Deb told him. "Apparently your father signed the divorce papers before his heart attack, so I'm leaving. He's not my responsibility anymore. I'm washing my hands of that man and if you were smart you would too."

"I can't do that, Mom." Nathan couldn't believe how selfish his mother was being. She had every right to leave, but couldn't she just wait until Dan was conscious at least? "The doctor wanted to talk to you. What should I tell him?"

"Tell him that I'm ran away, tell him I'm washing my hair, tell him anything, I don't care. Dan Scott is no longer my problem."

"Whatever, Mom," he said. "I'll deal with it. So where are you running off to?"

Deb shot a sidelong glance at the driver. She gave Keith a brief smile. "I don't know yet. But I'll let you know when I do."

"One more thing, before I let you go. Haley and I got married. Bye, Mom." Nathan hung up the phone before his mother could say anything else. And then he shut the phone off because he was going back into the hospital and be the adult his mother couldn't be.

-----

Peyton made her way to her car. Lucas was leaning on it, waiting for her. He looked nervous and she couldn't tell if it was because of her or because of going to see his father. Either way, Peyton had to admit that Lucas could stand to feel a little discomfort.

"Are we going?" Lucas asked when he caught her looking at him.

"Yes," she answered as she slid into her car.

"Guess Brooke's a no-show, huh?" Lucas wasn't surprised by his former girlfriend's absence. He definitely wasn't disappointed that she had decided to sit this out. In fact, he felt rather relieved at that. It gave him a chance to spend some time alone with Peyton.

"She called me as I was heading out the door to let me know that there was a killer party going on over at Theresa's house and that she was obligated to go." Peyton chuckled. "I told her she was off the hook for tonight, but that she wouldn't get out of it so easily next time."

"Listen, I know this is awkward, so let's just get it out of the way," Lucas started. "About the letter I wrote you guys…"

"We burnt it."

"What?"

"We burnt your letter," she admitted. Peyton bit her lip and gave him a sheepish shrug. "There wasn't money in it, was there?"

"No, but-"

"You can't exactly blame us for that," she told him. "We were mad at you and really didn't want to know what you had to say. Sorry about that."

Lucas sighed, torn between feeling relieved at the fact that they didn't read it or upset that he had spent so long perfectly wording the letter to fully express how he felt only to have it be completely unread. He settled on relief. "Well, I guess that's good. At least I won't have to be embarrassed about what I wrote, then."

"Wait, what did you write that was so embarrassing?"

Lucas just shrugged. "How much is it worth it to you to know?"

Peyton just ignored his question, changing the subject. "So what did your mom say when you told her that you were back in town?"

"She was happy about it, of course, but she seemed pretty heartbroken when she found out that Keith wasn't staying."

"I can imagine," Peyton said. "Your mom cares for Keith very much and I'm sure she missed him and would have liked him to stick around."

"If she had wanted him to stick around then she should have accepted his marriage proposal ," he said angrily, his tone surprising Peyton. "But she said no and she has no right to wish he'd give up a chance of happiness for her."

"I don't think that your mother-"

"He loves her and she just wanted to be his friend! He's been in love with her for years and she turns him down because of some stupid reason! And then the second that there's the possibility that he won't be there as her standby-"

"Are you talking about your mom and Keith or are you talking about us?" Peyton asked him, interrupting his little rant. "Because that is not how it was and you know it."

"Really? Because that's how it seemed like to me."

Peyton pulled the car over to the side of the road and glared at Lucas. "How can you say that to me? After everything we've been through?"

"I don't know," he cried. "God, Peyton, don't you get it? I would have done anything to be with you but you kept turning me down!"

She put her hands on the steering wheel and forced herself to calm down. "Okay, we're getting a little emotional right now. How about we table this discussion for now and we'll continue it at a later time? I don't want to fight with you right now."

"I don't want to fight with you either," he told her truthfully. "I messed up with you, I admit that. But through it all, I still wanted to be with you."

"Luke…"

"No, please let me just get this out." Lucas took her hands off the steering wheel and pulled her to face him. "You're the one for me Peyton. I just need to know that you feel something, ANYTHING, for me, too."

"Of course I feel something for you, Luke," she started. "But it's neither the time nor the place to have this conversation."

Lucas nodded. "You're right."

Inside he was rejoicing. Peyton felt something for him. She didn't exactly specify what it was that she felt, but Lucas felt like he could assume that it was something resembling what he was feeling for her. (At least he was hoping it was.) There was no way that she could be as angry as she was at him and still be so willing to do what she needed to do to be there for him. Her admission was enough for Lucas to know that he was going to be able to win Peyton's heart. How he was going to accomplish that, however, he had no idea.

"Good," she said, taking her hands away from him. She started driving again, cursing herself for letting Lucas pull that little piece of information out of her. He had hurt her badly and she hadn't wanted to have him know that she still had strong feelings for him. Especially since she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to be with him or not.

Thankfully, he had let her put the conversation on hold and she was going to do her damnedest to make sure that it stayed on hold until she could get control of her feelings. Which was going to be a huge challenge because just having him there sitting so close to her was making her heart beat like she was running a marathon. This was going to be hard.

----

Nathan made his way to the waiting room to find that Haley was accompanied by an older woman. He wasn't exactly close to Karen but he knew from both Lucas and Haley that she was an incredible woman. But above that, he was excited to be in the presence of a responsible adult. He was tired of having to pick up his parents' slack in that department.

Karen stood when she saw him and came over and wrapped him in a warm hug. "How are you holding up?"

It was amazing how this woman who was barely more than a stranger to him was able to make him feel better with a simple gesture. This what a mom was supposed to be like, he thought, suddenly feeling very jealous of his half-brother.

"I'm not doing too good," he admitted. "My mom left."

Haley blinked at the news her husband had delivered. "What do you mean she left? Where did she go? When is she coming back?"

"Apparently she's not coming back, Hales." Nathan sat down in one of the chairs, feeling completely defeated. "She doesn't want anything to do with Dan and now that she got her divorce papers signed, she's taking off."

Karen let out a deep breath. She knew that Deb had been suffering for quite some time now but that was no reason for her to just leave in the middle of all that was going on and let her son shoulder the burden. She took a seat next to Nathan. The poor boy needed to know that he wasn't alone in this situation. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Dad's doctor, a Dr. Farrell, wanted to talk to my mom about my Dad's condition. She's gone and I don't know if he's going to want to talk to me…"

Karen gently patted his knee and then she stood up. "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

"Thank you, Karen," Haley spoke up as she took the seat that the older woman had vacated. She took Nathan's hand and squeezed it.

"Yeah, thanks," he said.

Karen smiled as she started her mission, leaving the young married couple alone again. Haley laid her head on his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Haley asked.

"About my mom leaving? Not really. I mean, there's really nothing to talk about." Nathan groaned. "It's so typical, you know? But I did manage to tell her about us."

Haley's eyes widened and she turned to look at him. "You did not."

"Yeah, I did. Right before I hung up on her." He laughed at the memory. "She's probably calling my cell, clogging up my voicemail."

"Or she's on her way to the hospital so she can turn her son into a widower," Haley replied, only half-joking. "I mean, I'm glad you told her, I just wish that it hadn't been like that."

"It's not like she left me any choice. She's running away," he reminded her. "I'm not really going to concern myself with how she's feeling right now."

Haley just nodded, content to just sit there with her husband in silence until Karen came back with some news.

"Hey guys," a female voice called out to them.

Haley and Nathan turned to see Peyton and Lucas standing there. Haley felt Nathan relax slightly. He was trying to be strong in front of her, but she knew that he needed Lucas's support as well. Peyton reached them first and threw her arms around her ex-boyfriend. Usually, a new wife should have been jealous of that amount of affection between her husband and his ex-girlfriend, but Haley knew that she had nothing to worry about in that department.

"I'm here for you, you know that right?" The blond girl hug the younger Scott brother tighter. "Just let me know what you need, okay?"

"Thanks, Sawyer." Nathan felt a lump in his throat. How could she be here after all the crap he had put her through? He had been a terrible boyfriend to her, but he hoped that he would be able to one day be a good friend.

Lucas stood a few feet away, feeling terribly uncomfortable. He couldn't just go up to Nathan and hug him like that. Sure, the two of them were slowly getting closer, but they were nowhere near that level just yet.

Peyton stepped out of Nathan's embrace and noticed Lucas standing there. She then turned to Haley. "You want to go get some coffee with me?"

Haley looked between the two Scotts and realized what Peyton was trying to do. "Yeah, I could totally go for some caffeine right now."

Peyton and Haley gave their respective boys a knowing look before they headed out of the waiting room, leaving Lucas and Nathan alone. The boys exchanged a nod before sitting down next to each other in matching uncomfortable chairs.

"How is he?" Lucas asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know," Nathan answered. "His doctor was going update me on his condition but he wanted to wait until my mom was around. But, oh wait, she had taken off."

"Sucks."

"Yeah. So, aren't you supposed to be in Charleston, right now?"

"Yeah, but Dan had to go and muck that plan up." Lucas shook his head.

"Classic Dan," the raven-haired Scott said. "So, your mom's here."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, she's off trying to see if she can convince the doctor to talk to me," Nathan informed his older brother. "Your mom's awesome, by the way. I'm glad she's here."

"Yeah, she is pretty awesome."

"I'm glad you're here, too," Nathan admitted.

Before Lucas could respond, Karen stepped into the waiting room. The expression on her face spoke volumes. The boys came over to her and she took a hand from each of them. "Dan's awake and he wants to see you. Both of you."


	3. Enter Dan

**A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed and all those who story alerted and those who favorited. Thanks a million. I know that a lot of writers and readers are pretty bummed about the rumors about what's going to happen to One Tree Hill next season. I'm pretty bummed myself, but I'm not going to let that stop me from enjoying myself with the stories on this site. There are really some remarkable stories going on right now and I hope that just because OTH the show might not be as great as we'd all wish it would be that people don't abandon this section of . **

**Oh and I love reviews, but I won't stop writing this if I don't get any. That's not how I roll. I like reveiws because they're nice, but they're not the reason why I write.**

**Anyway, I think I should reiterate the fact that I don't own One Tree Hill or any of the characters on said show. I'm simply borrowing them for entertainment purposes. I'm not making any money off of this, so please don't sue me. **

**/end rant**

**Chapter 3- Enter Dan**

**______________________**

Haley and Peyton were walking down the hall when Haley turned to go in the direction of the nearby nurses' lounge.

Peyton shot her a wondering look. "Where are you going?"

Haley laughed sheepishly before pulling Peyton close to her. "The coffee here is terrible. In fact, the only fairly digestible liquid comes from the nurses."

"You're sneaky, Haley, but also wrong. The BEST coffee in the entire hospital happens to be on the Maternity floor," Peyton informed her. "I guess it's important to keep everyone as cheerful as possible up there."

"Wow, you sure know some hospital secrets," Haley said.

"I've spent far too much time here," Peyton reminded her. She refused to let herself get carried away by the memory of losing her mother. Both Nathan and Lucas needed her to stay positive and optimistic is she was going to be any help at all to them.

"Yeah," Haley agreed. "By the way, that was some quick thinking on your part of leaving those alone together."

"I figured that they needed some time and that nothing would happen if they had an audience," Peyton told her.

"Yeah, I got that same impression," Haley said, feeling a twinge of jealousy that the other girl knew so much about her best friend and her husband.

The two of them reached the elevator and Haley reached out and pushed the elevator call button with her left hand. She smiled when she noticed how it caught the light. But the smile faded when she realized that she hadn't been the only one who had noticed.

Haley turned to see that Peyton was staring at her, eyes wide and mouth agape. "Haley James, what is that on your finger?"

"It's a wedding ring," Haley answered. She took a deep breath before continuing. "And actually, it's Haley James-Scott now."

"Are you serious?" Peyton asked and Haley nodded. Then she pulled the new wife into a firm hug. "Congratulations! Now let me see it!"

Haley shyly showed her the wedding ring on her finger.

Peyton examined the ring closely before grinning up at Haley. "It's absolutely beautiful. When did this happen?"

"Couple days ago, actually," Haley admitted. "I know it's crazy and we're only in high school and that it's Nathan Scott but-"

"You don't have to explain anything to me. Or to anyone, for that matter," Peyton told her. "If you're happy, then everyone else is going to have to get over it."

The elevator dinged and they both stepped into it. "Thanks, Peyton. That's actually something that I needed to hear."

"No problem. That's me… Peyton Sawyer, fixer of all things, great or small." Both girls laughed and Peyton cocked her head. "So who else knows?"

"Let's see, my parents, Karen, Lucas, you, probably Keith, and apparently Deb," Haley said, raising a finger every time she listed a name. "So seven in all. Oh, eight! I think that Nathan may have said something to Tim."

"So then, everyone else knows," Peyton said. "Or at least everyone will know by tomorrow. There's apparently a big party going on tonight and no doubt Brooke will catch wind of the news and from there it's only hop, skip, and jump before it's on the evening news."

Haley's face reddened. "Are you serious?"

Peyton nodded. "I'll probably have a hundred messages all from her telling me that she has a delicious piece of gossip."

"Great."

------

Karen eyed both of Dan's boys. Neither one looked particularly pleased at having been beckoned by their father. Not that she could blame either of them. It had been a particularly tough time for both Lucas and Nathan and a large part of the troubles could be linked to one man- Dan Scott.

"I guess I'll go first," Nathan said, and Karen was amazed at how much inner strength the boy had. He had grown into a remarkable young man, in spite of Dan's influence.

Lucas and his mother watched Nathan walk into Dan's room and close the door behind him. Lucas put his arm around his mother.

"Thanks for being here, Ma. I really appreciate it," he said. "And I'm sure that Nathan feels the exact same way."

Karen just nodded. "We haven't really had much of a chance to talk since you came back. How are you doing?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I'm having some serious conflicting feelings about Dan and his condition. And I'm glad I'm back, but I don't know if I should be here, though."

"Why not?"

"It's too hard," he told her. "Everyday I'm going to have to see Peyton and imagine how things could've been if I had just done things right from the beginning."

"Peyton, huh?" Karen bit back a smile. The blond girl had been her son's dream girl for years, even if he never admitted it to her. "What about Brooke?"

His face turned red. He really didn't want to disclose to his mother the reasons why he had been with the brunette. "Brooke's amazing and I like her a lot but she's not Peyton."

"So what are you going to do when you see her?" Karen asked. "Peyton, I mean."

"Get into a fight with her and make her more angry with me than she already was." Lucas groaned at the memory. At Karen's confused look, he clarified, "I saw her already. Her and Brooke, actually. In fact, Peyton drove me to hospital."

"That was nice of her."

"Yeah, but I can't tell if she did it because she was being nice or because she still cares about me," Lucas said. "I wish I knew what I could do to make things better between us."

"Just give it time," Karen advised. "If she feels the same way, you two will find your way to each other, I guarantee it."

"But what if she doesn't?"

She hugged him tight to her. "Then you find a way to mend your broken heart."

-----

Nathan closed the door behind him. He looked at his dad lying in the hospital bed and it was strange to see him so weak. It was so uncomfortable for him, that Nathan tried to keep his gaze on anything but his father.

"Nathan," Dan croaked. The father cursed himself for not even being able to sound like he used to. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course," Nathan said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just had a heart attack," Dan joked. "Actually, I'm feeling much better now. They gave me something for the pain and believe me it's working."

"That's good," the son said. Nathan was confused. This man was totally not acting anything like Dan Scott. This man was nice and Dan Scott was never nice unless there was something in it for him. What had happened to his dad?

"How's Haley? When you see her can you tell her that I'm sorry for how I acted towards her?" Dan asked. "It wasn't right for me to take my frustrations about our failed relationship out on her. Because she seems like good people."

"She is," Nathan told his dad, really freaked out now by the change in his father.

Dan nodded. "And she good for you, too. Tell her that, won't you?"

When Karen had told him that Dan was awake, Nathan had decided that he wasn't going to tell his father about his marriage for fear that the news would cause further damage to his father. But now, Nathan needed to test Dan's new attitude.

"I will," Nathan said. "And I'm glad that you feel that way about her because there's something that I need you to know."

"You got her pregnant?"

"No! Why does everyone keep assuming that I got her pregnant?"

Dan chuckled. "Because you're my son and history tends to repeat itself."

"Well, it didn't this time," Nathan said. He paused, hoping that he didn't end up killing his father. "Haley's not pregnant, but we did get married."

Dan was quiet for a moment as he allowed for his son's news to sink in. "She's not pregnant but you married her anyway. I have to ask, why?"

"Because I love her, Dad. I'm in love with her and I want to be with her for the rest of my life," Nathan explained, thinking that his father probably thought his reasoning was stupid and childish and was going to call him on it.

"I know how you feel," Dan said, calmly. "When I was your age, I was in love myself. I thought that I was going to love her forever, too."

"Karen?"

Dan nodded. "Yeah. And you know what? Seventeen years later, it's still true."

Nathan's jaw dropped. That was the last thing he had expected Dan to say. "Wait a minute, I'm confused. Are you trying to tell me that I made a mistake or not?"

"Do you think it was a mistake?" Dan asked and Nathan shook his head. "Then I don't either. I was stupid, son. I had my priorities mixed up and because of that, I let her go. And while I don't regret being with your mother, it wasn't the same. And I don't want that for you."

"Are you telling me that you still love Karen?"

"Yeah, I am," Dan replied sheepishly. "You know, I'm surprised your mother did walk into the room right then. That would have been a very Tree Hill moment."

"Actually, Mom's gone," Nathan said, hating that he to give his father more upsetting news. "She said that you signed the divorce papers and she took off."

"Good for her," he said. "Hope she finds some happiness out there. God knows she wasn't going to find it with me."

Nathan blinked. Okay, that was too much. This man was obviously an imposter because there was no way that Dan Scott would have said that.

----

Haley and Peyton made their way back to the waiting room to see Karen and Lucas hugging. The two girls came closer and Lucas pulled away from his mother, embarrassed to have been caught in his mother's embrace by Peyton.

"Where's Nathan?" Haley asked as she handed a coffee to Karen.

"He's with Dan right now," Lucas informed her. "He's awake and apparently he wanted to see him. And me, too, supposedly."

"Oh," Haley said. She wasn't sure how to react. She was concerned for her husband and how he was feeling but also knew that her best friend was probably having a hard time figuring out what Dan wanting to see him meant.

"Are you going to go see him?" Peyton asked, her voice soft.

"I don't know, maybe," Lucas said. "I'm undecided at the moment. I don't want to deal with him if he's going to be an ass to me."

"Actually, the doctor told me that Dan… well, he's different. There's this thing called the Phoenix Effect, that's not uncommon in cardiac patients," Karen explained. "People who almost died sometimes realize their mistakes and try to correct them. Apparently Dan's been affected by that and is acting very unlike himself."

"Is it permanent?" Lucas asked.

"Not always, no. But it's pretty much up to the person in question," Karen told him. "Then again, it's Dan we're talking about, so nothing's a given."

"Temporary or not, I can't imagine Dan being a good guy," Lucas said. The last few months had taught him that he was not a good man.

"I can," Karen said softly, remembering the man she loved. The three teenagers turned to her in surprise. She let out a small laugh. "He wasn't always like the way he is now. He used to be different, but after a while, his father just broke him down."

"Oh, I actually can see that," Haley said. At Karen's look, the new wife shrugged. "When you were in Italy, Nathan's grandparents came into town for Dan's birthday. Meeting Royal Scott gave me insight as to why Dan's the way he is."

Lucas looked up to meet Peyton's eyes. He wondered if she remembered that it was that weekend that they had kissed each other in the motel. Peyton blushed slightly and Lucas had his answer, she did remember and she was thinking about what almost happened between them.

Peyton, eager to push the memory out of her brain, turned to Karen. "So do you think Luke should go visit Dan or not?"

Karen tried to bite back a smile. It was so obvious to her that the curly blond still had feelings for her son. "I don't know, it's not my decision to make, obviously."

"But still," Lucas interjected. "I would love to know what your opinion is."

"In that case," Karen said, pausing for a second to make sure she said the right words. "I would encourage you to see him. At least once. But if you're so dead set against it, then that's fine, too. This is your decision, Lucas, and you're the one that's going to have to live with the consequences. So you should do what you think is right."

Lucas nodded. They all heard the squeak of a sneaker on the hospital floor and they all turned to see Nathan coming towards them. Haley ran to him and hugged him. Nathan looked emotionally exhausted and nearly collapsed in her arms. She squeezed him tight and gave him a quick kiss. She pulled away from him and stroked his face.

"Are you okay?" Haley asked, her voice barely loud enough for the rest of the group to hear her. It didn't matter, because he had heard her.

He nodded slowly. There was so much he wanted to talk to her about, but it was going to have to wait. "He wants to see you, Hales. Would you come with me for a minute? I mean, if you don't want to, that's okay."

"Let's go," she said as she took his hand. She didn't want to go see Dan, but it was obvious that Nathan wanted her to, so she was going to do it. For Nathan.

The remaining three watched the newlyweds enter Dan's room and disappear as Nathan closed the door behind them. All of them hoping that Dan's Phoenix Effect lasted long enough for the couple to finish their visit.

"You know," Peyton started. "After that, they're going to need a party."

Lucas's eyes widened. "You're right!"

Peyton and Karen shared a look. Why was the boy getting so excited?

"We need to throw them a wedding reception." Lucas looked at his mom. "Cause they got married a few days ago…"

"I know," Karen informed him. "Haley told me."

"Oh good," he said with a sigh of relief. "I thought that Haley was going to kill me when she found out that I had spilled the beans to you."

"You know, that sounds like a great idea, Luke!" Peyton told him. "They need to know that we totally support their decision."

"We should keep it a secret, though. From Haley and Nathan, I mean," Lucas clarified. "I know Haley would be all sensible and say that it wasn't the right time for a party and I think she and Nathan really need one."

"You're a good boy, Lucas," Karen told him, visibly swelling with pride. At Lucas's dark look that he shot her, "Man, I meant man."

Peyton giggled at that and Lucas shot her a dirty look, too. "What?" Peyton asked, shrugging. "It was funny."

"Anyway, we should probably get started on it at soon as possible," he continued, ignoring her. "We should…"

He trailed off. Truth be told, he had no idea how to throw a party, much less the kind of wedding reception that his best friend deserved.

Peyton easily picked up on that. "Don't worry about that. You can talk to Brooke, who is a master at throwing parties."

Lucas swallowed hard. Of course, Brooke should be involved. It made perfect sense, but he hadn't thought of that when he had suggested the idea of the wedding reception. It was going to be awkward for him to be working with the girl he wants to be with and his ex-girlfriend. But this is for Haley, he reminded himself, and he would do anything for her.

"So, you'll talk to her?" Lucas asked.

He was being a coward and she knew it, but Peyton realized that it wasn't the right situation to call him on it. "I'll go talk to her right now. If I can break the news before she hears it from Tim at the party tonight, she might be more receptive to help."

Mother and son watched the curly blond excuse herself and make her way to the elevators. Karen wrapped an arm around Lucas.

"You have nothing to worry about," she told him.

He felt the joy spreading through his body, but tried to remain skeptical. He couldn't handle getting his hopes up over nothing. "How do you know?"

Karen smiled softly. "Call it mother's intuition."

----

Haley and Nathan stepped into Dan's room. She was nervous and Nathan could feel it coming off her in waves. He squeezed her hand, letting her know that he was right there with her. She gave him a grateful smile.

"Mr. Scott?" Her voice was soft. Dan's eyes had been closed when they had come in and she was hoping that he was asleep.

He had just been resting, however. At the sound of her voice, his eyes opened and he smiled at his new daughter-in-law. "Haley. Thank you for coming."

Wow, even after preparing herself for it, "Nice Dan" was a shock. "No problem," she managed to get out. "How are you feeling?"

"Not great," he admitted. "But it makes me feel better knowing that my family is doing well. Which is why I wanted to thank you in person for coming into my son's life when you did. You're turning him into the sort of man, I always wished I could be. So thank you for that, Haley."

Haley was flabbergasted. How was she supposed to react to that? What was the protocol for this type of thing. She just laughed uncomfortably and shrugged her shoulders at him. "No thanks are necessary, really."

Dan smiled at both of them. "I know I gave you some trouble during your relationship, but I'd like to make it up to you. Obviously, I can't go to work, so I'd like you to take over for me at the dealership, Nathan."

"I can't do that, Dad," Nathan told him. "I have school."

"I know that," his father told him. "But basketball season is over, so you can work a few hours after school. The day manager can take care of things during school and at night you and your brother can take over."

"My brother?" Nathan repeated. "You mean, Lucas?"

"Do you have any more brothers running around that I should know about?" Dan joked. "Of course I mean, Lucas. The pay is pretty good, much better than what they're paying you at that pretzel place in the mall. What do you think? Want the job?"

Haley and Nathan exchanged a look. They both knew that they would need all the money that they could get. She nodded at him, giving her husband her blessing. He nodded back at her and squeezed her hand, thankful he had gotten himself a great woman.

"Yeah, that'll be great," Nathan said. "Thanks, Dad. But you know, I can't speak for Lucas. You know that, right?"

"I know," Dan said, growing serious. "That's why I plan on asking him myself… if he decides to come and visit me."

He looked so remorseful and broken that Haley's heart went out to him. She prayed that this change wasn't temporary for him because it would fix a lot of things in Tree Hill.

"He'll come," Haley promised.

Dan nodded, looking entirely unconvinced. "Anyway, at least you two came. So thank you again for that. But now you have to leave."

"What?" Nathan asked.

"Go!" Dan demanded even though his tone was jovial. "The hospital is no place for a newlywed couple. Go home and enjoy being together. I don't want to hear that either of you stepped foot in this hospital for at least two days, you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"I get it, Dad."

"Good," Dan said. "Now, on your way out, will you tell Lucas that I'd like to see him?"


	4. Misconceptions All Around

**A/N: Okay, my update is sooo very late. To be honest, my ideas for this story flew out the window as soon as I started writing this chapter. I'm so embarrassed by this (the lack of direction, not this chapter). I think I finally have some idea of where I'm going to go with this, so hopefully the updates will be coming much quicker. Not everyday, but definitely much quicker than however long this one took to go up. Anyway, so very sorry about that, but I do think this version doesn't suck. And trust me, all other version of this, DID suck. I love reviews and want to thank everyone who reviewed it. Anyway, I've kept you waiting long enough for this so here we go, Chapter Four:  
_____________**

Peyton made her way out of the hospital. She turned on her phone to find that she had only one voicemail. She held her breath and crossed her fingers that it was just Brooke being Brooke and nothing more.

"Hey, P. Sawyer, I'm not planning on going to the party 'til late because as you know, only the absolutely desperate arrive early, so you can totally dump Broody at the hospital and come live it up with me. I hear that there's going to be some boys from out of town, so I was thinking of a double hook-up. Maybe with twins, since we obviously have the same type…"

Peyton rolled her eyes and bit her lip to keep from smiling at her best friend. So much for letting it go, Brooke, she thought.

"Anyway, call me when you get this because I have the most amazing plan ever to make the rest of our junior year rock, because God knows it needs to. Hoes over Bros. Oh and it's Brooke by the way. Not that I doubt you didn't know that but I don't know if we're back to that leaving messages and just assuming that we don't need to-"

The message ended there suddenly and the blonde had to stifle a chuckle when she realized that the message had just been too "Brooke" for her answering service to handle. Peyton quickly called her best friend back.

"Hey P. Get my message? Or half of one. I can't believe your answering machine cut me off," Brooke rambled. The truth was that the brunette was thrilled that at the very least her best friend wasn't completely blowing her off for the blond boy.

"I did, but that's not why I'm calling."

"Oh? You've got your favor voice going on," Brooke noticed, proving to Peyton once again that she hadn't been her best friend for years for no reason. "Okay, what is it? You want me to give you my permission to go after Broody, don't you?"

"What? No. This has nothing to do with Lucas. Well, actually it does but not in the way you think," the blond said. Her face was burning at the idea of her and "Broody" getting together. Peyton quickly banished all those thoughts from her mind, knowing that it would only lead to trouble. "I have to talk to you about something."

"Okay…"

"Hold on, I'm enjoying the feeling of having some gossip that not even Brooke Davis is privy to, yet." Peyton smiled, knowing her friend all too well. She knew that this was going to be an easy way to get Brooke up for the idea.

"Gossip? Is it good?"

"Very good," Peyton promised.

"Spill, Best Friend, or I'm revoking your title."

Peyton laughed, thoroughly enjoying the conversation. "Okay, Haley and Nathan got married a couple of days ago."

"OH MY GOD!" Brooke squealed painfully loud. "Nathan knocked up Tutor-Girl? Scott sperm strikes again, huh?"

"Actually, she's not pregnant," Peyton told her friend. "At least I'm pretty sure they're not. They just wanted to be married."

"That's just an excuse," Brooke informed the obviously naïve Peyton. "And the baby is going to be born 'premature' in a few months."

Peyton wasn't going to argue with her, not when she was about to ask her for a favor. "Anyway, thing is that Lucas wants to throw them a wedding reception and-"

"Since I'm the best at throwing parties, I should be involved, right?"

"Yep."

"Let me guess, the little coward begged you to ask me for him," Brooke growled, again showing that she might not be as over the whole thing as she said she was.

"He did, but cut him some slack, B. Davis. His father's in the hospital and he just found out that Dan wants to see him."

"Really? That's huge." Brooke hadn't meant to show concern for her ex-boyfriend. She was still mad at him and he didn't deserve such consideration from her. But this was her best friend and she knew that she could trust Peyton not to tell him. "How's he holding up?"

"Pretty well, under the circumstances, I guess," Peyton replied. "I don't really know. Karen's here so I don't want to intrude on them."

"You could never intrude," Brooke pointed out. The brunette took a deep breath before continuing, "Listen, I hope you can understand why I can't be there right now. But I don't mind that my best friend is there comforting him."

"Brooke-"

"Peyton," Brooke cut her off because she still had more to say and she needed to get it out before she lost her nerve. "I told you, I'm over him. But you're not, I can tell. That means something. So go to our boy and help him through this. I love you, P. Sawyer."

"I love you, B. Davis."

"More than Lucas?"

"Much much more," Peyton said, smiling, hoping that her friend believed it. "After all, you didn't sleep with that skanktacular Nikki."

"True. Now go do your thing," Brooke told her. "I'll get to work on making it the best wedding reception ever."

----

Lucas kept looking between the elevators and the door to Dan's hospital room. He'd stare at the direction that Peyton left in, hoping the curly blonde would soon make a reappearance and then he'd move his attention to the direction that of the hospital door that he'd wished that would stay closed just a little longer and then back again.

"Jesus, if you keep doing that, Lucas, you're going to give _me _a neck ache," Karen said, giving him a sympathetic look.

Lucas looked at his mother and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

She rested her hand on his arm. "It's going to be all right, I promise. Whatever you want to do, I'll support you."

"I know that, Ma," Lucas said. "But what if I don't know what I want to do?"

"That's okay, too."

Lucas sighed and some movement in his peripheral vision caught his eye. It wasn't the movement he was hoping for though. He turned in that direction to see his brother and his best friend leaving the hospital room. Lucas and Haley had been best friends for so long that he prided himself on being able to tell what she was thinking just by the look on her face. Maybe his skill had diminished because he couldn't even read her expression.

The younger brother and his new wife stood in front of Karen and Lucas. Karen's mother intuition kicked in and she gave Nathan a much needed a hug. Lucas followed suit and hugged the newest member of the Scott clan and felt Haley relax in his embrace.

"You okay?" He had asked the question so softly that she had barely heard him.

Haley responded by nodding and she broke away from him as Karen let go of Nathan. Nathan looked as if Karen's hug had provided much-needed comfort.

"So, how is he?" Lucas asked his brother.

"Acting like a completely different person," Nathan replied. "Seriously, he's like Anti-Dan or something right now. If this was some soap opera, I'd swear it was his 'evil' twin or something. Which of course would be the 'good' twin because-"

"It's very unnerving," Haley chimed in, interrupting her husband's nervous rambling. Nathan shot her a grateful look and she smile back at him. "He was actually incredibly supportive of our marriage, believe it or not."

"Seriously?" Lucas asked, almost convinced that his best friend was pulling his leg.

"Yeah," Nathan assured him as Peyton rejoined the group.

"Hey," Peyton said., eyeing the serious faces around her. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing much. Apparently, Dan didn't disapprove of Haley and Nathan's marriage," Lucas informed the newcomer.

Peyton raised an eyebrow but forced herself to keep from saying all the sarcastic comments that were threatening to roll off her tongue. She watched as a nurse made her way into Dan's room as she searched for an appropriate response. "Wow."

"Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction, too," Nathan told Peyton. "The entire time I was with him, I was convinced that it was only going to be a matter of time before he did something to make me hate him again. But he didn't."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Karen asked him.

"It is," Nathan agreed. "It's just strange to see him like that, is all."

"Believe it or not," Karen began. "Your father used to be a very different man."

"When he was dating you?" Nathan asked, remembering the private conversation he had had with his father.

Karen looked surprised at his query. "Yes."

Nathan looked back at his father's door and then back at Karen. "You know, I think he would really like it if you went and visited him."

Lucas was about to go off on his brother for even suggesting that his mother should be in the same room as the man that abandoned her when Karen gave Nathan a small smile and nodded. "Don't worry, I was planning on seeing him."

"What?" The blond boy turned on his mother. That was just about the last thing he had expected to hear his mother say.

Karen didn't even turn to look at Lucas. She was the adult and certainly didn't need to explain herself to her son. "You heard me."

Her "mother tone" made it perfectly clear to all in attendance that the matter was not up for further discussion and that it would be prudent for all of them to just let the subject drop and move on to a different topic.

Just then the nurse that had disappeared into Dan's room a short time ago, reappeared and made her way over to the small group. The nurse eyed them carefully, especially the two boys, before asking, "Nathan Scott?"

Nathan took a deep breath. "That's me. What's wrong? Is my dad okay?"

The nurse gave him a smile as reassuring as she could. "Your father is as fine as a man in his condition can be. However, he did ask me to check to make sure that you and your new wife had left the hospital as he had instructed."

Haley's cheeks burned and so did Nathan's as he fought hard to keep from smiling right then. "Um, we were just about to do that. We were just checking in with our family, but we're on our way out now," Nathan told the nurse.

"Okay, then." The nurse nodded and she made her way to the nurse's station where she had a good view of the newlyweds and the elevators to the exit of the hospital.

"What was that about?" Peyton asked.

"Dan said that the hospital was no place for newlyweds and that he didn't want us back here for two days," Haley related. "I didn't think he had been serious. Definitely not serious enough for him to have nurses come and check up on it for him."

Karen smiled. "Well, I have to say, I completely agree with him," she said. "You two should go and spend some time alone. Dan's going to be fine, but if anything does happen, I promise someone will call."

Both Nathan and Haley nodded, before the new husband took his wife's hand and squeezed it. "You ready to go, Hales?"

Haley nodded at him. "Yeah, I'm ready."

The pair said their goodbyes (and thank yous) and headed off to the elevators, leaving Karen alone with the two blondes. When she was sure that Nathan and Haley were gone, Karen turned to Peyton and asked, "Did you manage to get in touch with Brooke?"

"Oh yeah, she's totally excited for the idea," Peyton told her. "When I hung up with her, she had already started making preparations."

"She agreed?" Lucas asked, shocked. He had been expecting that once Brooke found out that he was involved that she would pass on it. Could it be that she wasn't as angry with him as he thought? "Did you tell her that it was my idea?"

"I told her that you were the one that wanted to throw the wedding reception," she replied honestly. "So she definitely knew when she agreed to help."

Lucas smiled. "That's great!"

He was happy because maybe he'd be able to clear the air with Brooke. He needed things to be okay between the two of them before he could go after Peyton.

Peyton, on the other hand, completely misunderstood the reason behind his reaction. Seeing Lucas's enthusiasm at hearing the Brooke was going to help broke Peyton's heart a little. She was convinced that the reason he was so excited about the prospect of working with the bubbly brunette was because Lucas would be able to try and get back with Brooke.

Peyton swallowed hard. Brooke hadn't been wrong when she had accused Peyton of still having feelings for Lucas. But obviously it didn't matter. He didn't return those feelings. Why would he ever want Peyton Sawyer when there was Brooke Davis around? Suddenly the hospital felt like it had shrunk. She felt like she was suffocating.

She needed to get out of there. Peyton forced a small smile on her face and looked between Karen and Lucas. "Well, I should probably get going. I don't think it's fair to leave Brooke with all responsibility of planning the reception."

Lucas's heart fell at the thought that he wasn't going to have her with him. He didn't want Peyton to leave and he could tell that somehow all the progress they had made in the last hour had been erased. "Peyt, please don't go yet."

Peyton looked at him, definitely surprised.

Karen, being far smarter than anyone ever gave her credit for, stepped in. "Yes, please stay, Peyton. I'm planning to go visit with Dan for a little bit and I would feel so much better if someone was here with Lucas."

Lucas groaned. He knew what his mother was doing and it bothered him a little that she was manipulating the situation like that. But he also knew that beggars can't be choosers. "Yeah, please stay with me."

Peyton nodded, the suffocation having had eased the second that he had used her nickname. "Yeah, I'll hang around for a bit."

"Thank you," Karen said to the skinny blond girl beside her. Then she hugged the girl tightly to her and whispered in her ear, "You're a good woman, Peyton. Probably a better woman than my son deserves right now."

When Karen pulled away to embrace her son, she left Peyton appropriately shocked. The younger woman couldn't even begin to understand what the hell the other woman had meant by her statement. It was a compliment, sure, but what else? She wished she could ask Brooke, but Peyton knew that it was much too soon to come to her best friend for advice on _this_ relationship. Friendship, not relationship, Peyton reminded herself. Lucas and her were just friends.

Lucas and Karen broke away from each other and the two blondes sat down watching the older woman make her way into Dan's room.

"I can't believe she's going in there," he said, not being able to keep the anger out of his voice. "After everything he did to her. He doesn't deserve that."

"I understand what you're feeling, Luke, I do," Peyton began. "But maybe there's a little more to the story than you know."

"What is that supposed to mean? I don't think you have any idea what you're talking about!" Lucas snapped at her. And instantly he regretted it. He paled immediately and turned his blue eyes to look into her angry green orbs. "I am so sorry, Peyton. I totally didn't mean for it to come out like that. I'm so sorry."

Peyton took a deep breath. "Listen, I know you're under a lot of stress and that's the only reason why I'm not standing up right now and heading out. But you watch your tone with me, Lucas Scott. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," he told her. He gave her a weak smile. "Thank you. For everything, I mean. You're the reason I'm even here in the hospital. You make me try to be a better person, Peyton, and I've never thanked you for that."

"Don't thank me," she replied, coldly. "Because as far as I'm concerned, I haven't done a very good job at making you a better person."

Lucas recoiled slightly at her angry words. She was right, his actions as of late were not something he was proud of. "You have a point, but I promise you that I'm trying to be a better man. One who deserves to be with-"

"Can we please not talk about this right now?" Peyton asked, interrupting Lucas. The last thing she needed to hear right now was that Peyton was pushing him to be a man worthy of being with her best friend.

Lucas nodded, crestfallen. Was the idea of the two of them getting together that distasteful for her that she didn't even want to hear it? He sighed. As much as he wanted to broach the subject, with the way she was acting, it looked as if that might be the worse thing he could do at that moment. So, instead he pursued a less controversial topic. Well, less controversial for her, at least. Dan Scott certainly wasn't an easy topic for him.

"So do you think I should do it?"

Peyton didn't even have to ask what he was talking about. Her face softened and she turned to look at him. "It doesn't matter what I think," she told him.

"Actually, it does," he corrected her. "Peyton, you're so insightful and I could really use some of that right now."

Peyton sighed, trying to put her thoughts into words. "Thing is that I don't know, Luke. Dan's an ass. He's proven that fact over and over again. But now, there's evidence that he's trying to make amends and change for the better. I think that if he's at least making an attempt to be a better person then you should reward that."

Lucas nodded. "I get what you're saying, but what if he's just faking it?"

"I don't know," Peyton replied. "But if anyone can suss out whether or not he's faking, it's your mom. Maybe you should wait until she comes out before deciding?"

"No, I don't have to," Lucas said. "If my mom can go in there, then I can, too. After all, in spite of everything, he's still my father, right?"

"That's true," Peyton agreed. "So you're going to do it, then?"

"Yeah," he started. "But I'm going to have to ask you a huge favor, though."

"Okay…"

"Will you come with me?" Lucas asked her, hopefully. Before she could begin to protest, he continued quickly. "Please, Peyton? I can't go in there alone and besides you've spent more time with him than I ever have. Please?"

"My God, Luke, you weren't kidding when you said huge favor." Peyton shot a quick look at Dan's door and rolled her eyes. She obviously loved him if she was even considering visiting Dan Scott with him. "Fine. I'll go in with you."

He stood up and took her hand. He pulled her from her seat into his arms as he hugged her tight to him. "Thank you, Peyt."

She relaxed against his chest, savoring the feel of having him so close to her. His delicious scent filled her nostrils and for a moment, Peyton forgot where she was. She lifted her face to his, her green eyes meeting his blue ones. His face was angled towards her and their lips were but inches from each other. Peyton closed her eyes and Lucas moved his face closer to hers. Just as their lips were about to touch, the sound of Karen's laughter wafted towards them. The two of them pulled away in embarrassment, both believing that the other didn't feel the same way.

Lucas turned to see his mom standing in the doorway of Dan's hospital room. Her smile was wide and genuine, her face was flushed and her eyes were locked on something… or most likely _someone_ inside the room. Karen laughed loudly again at something the man had said before turning to look at her son and the girl he's been infatuated with for years. The color in her face intensified and she made her way towards them.

Lucas crossed his arms in front of his chest and was about to demand angrily what the hell that was all about when Peyton placed a soft hand on his arm. He looked at her and she shook her head. He nodded, realizing that she was right. He dropped his arms to his side and forced a small smile on his face when his mother moved closer.

"What was so funny?" Lucas asked, forcing himself to keep his tone light.

"It was nothing," the dark-haired woman replied. "We were just reminiscing about stuff in high school, is all."

Lucas was about to remind her that Dan had knocked her up and abandoned her in high school, but Peyton's hand gave him a soft squeeze. He smiled in spite of himself. Peyton knew him so well. He took a deep breath, trying to relax.

"How is he?" Peyton asked, giving Lucas more time to relax.

"He's surprisingly well for having almost died," Karen answered, sneaking a glance back in the direction of the man in question.

"I'm going to go see him," Lucas announced.

Karen smiled. "Good, that's good. He really wants to see you. And I think it might do you some good to see him… well, see how he used to be."

Lucas just nodded. He reached out for Peyton's hand. "You ready?" Lucas asked Peyton.

"I should be the one asking you that," she informed him, taking his hand. At Karen's confused look, Peyton explained, "Lucas asked me to go with him to visit Dan."

"Oh," Karen said, slightly disappointed that Lucas was giving Dan a chance to have a one-on-one with his son. "Well, you guys should go in, visiting hours are going to be over soon."

Lucas didn't say anything else, instead he began walking in the direction of the hospital room, Peyton hurrying behind him.

Karen sighed. At least Peyton's presence would calm her son enough to keep him from going off on Dan. She just hoped it was enough for Lucas to see that Dan wasn't all bad. After all, he had been a good guy in high school, for most of it, anyway. Color rose to her cheeks remembering how he used to be. She chided herself for that. Dan may have changed back to the guy she fell in love with, but that didn't mean she was going to fall back in love with him again.

Right?


	5. Favors and More Favors

**A/N: So, as usual, thanks all for the support you have given me between all the reviews (which I love), the alerts, and the faves. This chapter was a lot easier to write than the previous one, so let's hope that the trend continues and I get into a better updating schedule. Even so, I'm really sick right now and my muse hates sick people (She's totally a germaphobe!), so I don't know what that means for this story. Anyway, I love reviews so leave some if you felt like it. So here comes the next chapter- 99.1% snot-free.**

**___________________**

Lucas stood in front of the hospital door and took a deep breath. He was a hair's breadth away from changing his mind about the visit when he felt Peyton squeeze his hand in encouragement. He turned to face her and she gave him a smile.

"You can do this," she told him. "I'm right here with you."

He nodded, letting her know that he was grateful for that fact. Despite being "the least cheery person" he knew, she really was a great cheerleader. At least to him. She managed to encourage him in ways she didn't even know. For example, her presence was undeniably the only reason why he was going to go through with it. Lucas took another breath and opened the door.

Dan was lying in bed, looking very much unlike the man Lucas hated. His dissimilarity to what Lucas remembered as a jerk, helped the younger man gather enough courage to enter the room the rest of the way.

Peyton slipped into the room behind Lucas and gave his hand another squeeze. He shot her a grateful look and she nodded as closed the door.

The soft click of the door closing was loud enough for Dan to open his eyes. When his gaze fell on the son that he had ignored for far too long, he smiled. He had come to see him and for that, Dan was absolutely grateful.

"Lucas," Dan said, his voice still hoarse. Then he noticed the other occupant in the room. "And Miss Sawyer."

Peyton blinked. This was the first time since she had met Nathan's father than she didn't feel her skin crawl. The difference was outstanding. She snuck a glance at Lucas to see how he was dealing and she could tell that he was overwhelmed by Dan's sudden change. So she smiled at Dan and said, "Hello, Mr. Scott."

Dan noticed that the pair were holding hands. He smiled at the two wryly, "Don't tell me that you two got married as well."

"What?" Peyton asked, her face growing red.

"No! I mean, we're not even dating! Why would you say something like that?' Lucas felt his cheeks burn but couldn't help the way his heart swelled at the idea of perhaps being married to the lovely blond girl next to him.

"I'm sorry," the older man said, fighting back the urge to chuckle at the pair's reactions. "I didn't mean to presume. I just figured with the amount of jaw-dropping news going around today, that it was a safe bet."

"It has been a pretty newsworthy day," Peyton agreed. She was still trying to get the whole blushing thing under control after that ridiculous question that Dan had asked. "Some of it has been more shocking than others, right?"

"Like the fact that Dan Scott has a heart?" Dan laughed. Even so, the two others in the room didn't really know how to react to that particular… joke. "I think that's the one that's got people the most surprised."

Still not entirely sure how to respond to that, the blond boy decided to ignore it altogether. Lucas swallowed hard. "How are you doing?"

Dan's smile faded immediately as he grew serious. "I've felt better, but to be honest, I'm glad this happened to me."

"Really?" Lucas asked. "Why?"

"I don't have to tell you how badly I was living my life. I was a horrible person, making the lives of those I cared about miserable," Dan answered, looking ashamed. "I guess I needed something like this to show me that I needed to change my ways."

"You really did need to change," Lucas said, although his tone was softer than he thought it could ever be with his father.

"Listen, Lucas, I have many regrets in my life, and the way I've treated your mother and you is one of my biggest ones," the older man said. "And I would like to try to start making amends, if you'll let me, of course."

"Like what?" Lucas asked.

"As you can imagine, the doctors have pretty much said that after this heart attack that I can't just go back to working at the dealership," Dan started. "So I'm going to need some people to step in for me at work. And I know you have school, but I was wondering if after school, you could help your brother at the dealership. Now I've already talked to Nathan and he's agreed to take the position I offered him, but I just think he could use your help as well. Besides it would be fitting to have both of my sons working there."

Lucas felt himself choke up and he couldn't speak. Peyton, who was just as surprised as he was, couldn't find the words to step in and fill the silence herself.

Dan eyed the two blondes and smiled. He shook his head and asked, "Dropped a bit of a bombshell there, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did," Lucas said, having finally found his voice. "But are you sure about that? Me working at the dealership with Nathan?"

Dan laughed, an easygoing laugh that neither Peyton nor Lucas had ever heard come from him. "Absolutely. For one, you're my son and even though I haven't shown it, I am proud of you. For two, Nathan's not exactly a whiz at math and would like someone who didn't need a tutor just to pass high school classes to help out."

Lucas nodded, feeling some tears in his eyes. Back when Lucas was young and prior to meeting his father, this was the kind of man he had envisioned Dan to be. He couldn't get over the fact that his father had told him that he was proud of him.

Peyton squeezed his hand again, and Lucas turned towards the girl and smiled at her to let her know that he was okay. She looked relieved and smiled back at him.

Dan, not having lost any observational skills, noticed the small exchange between the two. He knew that there was something going on, but that they were being too stupid to realize what it truly was. He sighed, teenagers were so stupid. After all, he was proof of that. But he wasn't going to allow his son to have the same regrets he does.

"Peyton, sweetheart, can you do me a favor?" Dan asked. "I need some more ice for my water jug, can you bring it out the nurses' station and have them fill it up?"

Before answering, Peyton turned to look at Lucas. She wasn't going to budge unless he told her that he was fine and didn't need her to stay with him. The blond boy just nodded, effectively telling her that he was okay on his own.

"Sure," she said. "I'm all about the favors for Scott men, today."

As Lucas felt her hand slip out of his, he suddenly grasped it again and brought it to his lips. The action took both of them a little off-guard, as even the boy hadn't meant to actually do it. Lucas felt his mind race for an acceptable explanation to why he did such a thing. "Thank you, Peyton. For everything. You are really a great friend."

Peyton reeled a bit, almost like she had been slapped. There it was again. Friend. Of course, that was all she was, but she couldn't help feeling that he had thrown the word out to remind her that it was all he wanted her as. She forced a smile on her face, trying to hide the fact that she wanted to burst out in tears at that moment.

"It's no problem," she managed to get out. She took the water jug from the table beside Dan and immediately realized upon picking it up that it was already full of ice. She kept her realization to herself and slipped out of the room.

Lucas felt her absence immediately. The room grew colder and dimmer and just a little less colorful. He turned to see his father staring at him intently.

"What?"

"You love her, don't you?"

Lucas felt his cheeks burn. How the hell was his father able to tell? He hoped that it wasn't that obvious. But still, even if it was, the best option was to deny, deny, deny. "What are you talking about? I told you already, we're not dating. We're just friends."

"That didn't exactly answer my question," Dan pointed out. "But no matter. It was more rhetorical than anything else. I already know that you love her."

"I think the drugs are making you loopy," Lucas said, hoping his father would drop the topic before Peyton came back.

"So I suppose that it's those same drugs that are making me 'loopy' also made me believe that Peyton loves you, too?"

"Wait, what?"

"Why are you so surprised?" Dan asked. "Anyone within a mile radius of the two of you can tell how you feel for each other."

"I don't think you're right, but just for the sake of argument, let's pretend that we do have feelings for each other. Things between us are kind of complicated right now and I'm not sure that she wants anything more than friendship out of me."

"Bull," Dan informed him. "I can tell you right now that you are full of crap if you believe that. I do believe things are complicated. After all, it wasn't that long ago that you had that pregnancy scare with Brooke Davis."

"Don't remind me," the younger man muttered. "But that just proves why she wouldn't want anything to do with me romantically."

Dan rolled his eyes. The boy had definitely inherited his stubbornness. "And what does your mother think?"

Lucas stuffed his hands into his pockets. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the fact that Dan was bring his mother into the conversation. "She said I had nothing to worry about, but I don't think she knows what she's talking about."

The older man shook his head. "Don't ever underestimate your mom, Lucas. She had the uncanny ability to see things for the way they really are."

"Maybe," Lucas conceded to that point. "Still, I don't think anyone, and that includes my mom and you, understands the situation as it is."

"So explain it, then."

Lucas bit his tongue. "I think we should drop the subject because she's going to be back any minute and the last thing I need is for her to walk in on this conversation."

Dan nodded, understanding what Lucas was saying. "You're right. So, what if we go back to the original topic? You know, the one where I was begging you to help your brother take over the dealership for a while?"

"Yeah, that's sounds better."

"Alright, then," Dan said. "Where's your head at with that?"

"I don't know," Lucas said, honestly. "It sounds like a good deal but…"

"You're waiting for the other shoe to drop, aren't you?" Dan sighed. "Which completely acceptable considering the way I've treated you, and well… everyone else special in my life. But I promise you, there's nothing to worry about with this."

Lucas had to admit that his father sincerely looked remorseful of his actions. But still, Lucas didn't know if he would be comfortable accepting the position.

Just then a soft knock on the door announce the arrival of the blond girl that had been the topic of conversation just a few moments previously.

"Come in," Dan called out, his voice cracking a bit with the increase in volume.

Peyton stepped into the room and Lucas immediately felt better. She was his drug and he needed her presence. He had been so stupid! How the hell did he think he was going to survive Charleston without her?

She placed the unchanged water jug back on the table, but not before refilling Dan's glass. As she did so, Dan gave her a soft smile (one that she had to note was very similar to one that she had seen on Lucas just a short time ago).

"Thank you," he told her. He didn't need to specify that he was more grateful to her for giving him the time alone with his son that anything else.

"It was my pleasure," she told him. Then she moved back to original position beside Lucas and she gave him a quick once-over.

"You okay?" Peyton asked, her voice barely over a whisper. She took his hand again and squeezed it reassuringly once more.

Lucas nodded at her and she smiled, grateful that things hadn't gone to hell in the time that she had left the two alone. Still, she could tell that the conversation hadn't been light and there was obvious tension in the room.

"As I was saying, I understand your hesitance at accepting the position, but I really wish you would at least consider it." Dan hoped that Peyton's presence would put Lucas more at ease and more willing to hear what he had to say. "It would be easier for Nathan to have someone to help with the responsibilities and besides, it pays really, really well."

Peyton looked at Lucas to see his reaction and was surprised when he turned to look at her. "What do you think, Peyton?" Lucas asked.

Peyton blinked. Why did he keep asking her opinion on these things? Did what she think matter that much to him? Or, is it just that he's so confused with everything that has been thrown his way that he just needs someone to give him some direction?

She shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, it sounds like a pretty sweet deal and Nathan is pretty clueless when it comes to finances and stuff." Peyton bit her lip. Was she really taking Dan's side? Well, it's not like he is acting like the same old Mr. Scott that she's used to. "Besides, it's good money and with college coming up, everyone could use some extra cash."

Dan forced himself not to smile, knowing that it could be the worst thing he could do. He had spent some time with the young blonde girl while she had been going out with Nathan and he had failed to see what a remarkable young woman she was. Or maybe it was just that his other son brought out the best in her, just like Haley brought out the best in Nathan. Either way, Dan was grateful that both of his sons were in the company of such amazing women.

Lucas smiled, thankful that Peyton had leaned that way. He had been on the verge of accepting, anyway, before he had asked her for her opinion. But even so, hearing that she agreed with the decision really strengthened his resolve.

"Yeah, you're right, Peyton." Lucas turned back to look at his father and found him staring back at him with a mixture of joy and surprise. Lucas had to admit that it felt right to be doing it. "So, when should I start?"

Dan looked away and both Peyton and Lucas were almost positive that they saw the older man wipe away a tear. "Well, the dealership will be fine for a couple of days and your brother needs some time to spend with his new wife. How about the three of us talk about it more in a couple of days when Nathan's 'honeymoon' is over?"

"All right," Lucas said. He was about to tell his father that he was looking forward to doing this for him but the words just wouldn't come.

Dan cleared his throat. "This has been a bit of an exciting day and I'm pretty exhausted. Some nurse is going to come in here soon with a fistful of medication for me and I'm going to be pretty much out of commission for the next 10 to 12 hours. You two shouldn't stick around this place. Go to the party, have some fun."

"How did you know there was a party, Mr. Scott?" Peyton asked.

"I know it seems hard to believe with me looking like I'm pounding on death's door, but it wasn't that long since I was your age. I know how things work," Dan told the pretty blond. "And there is always a party."

Dan's comment about "death's door" made both of the teenagers truly uncomfortable. And because of that neither Peyton nor Lucas really knew what to say to that. The "new and improved" Dan Scott was one for making people speechless. Still, it was definitely a step up from the what the old Dan Scott was known to do.

Dan realized this and stepped in. "I'm serious about the going out and having fun part. You guys are still young and should be acting like it."

Lucas nodded. "So, I guess with that order, we'll be leaving." He looked Peyton, who nodded in agreement. "Okay, Bye… Dad."

Dan felt a lump in his throat and found that he couldn't speak. So instead he just nodded in his son's direction.

"Bye, Mr. Scott. I hope you feel better," Peyton offered as the two of them made their way to the hospital room's door.

Dan recovered his voice. "Actually, hold on there for a second, Peyton. Could I talk to you for a second? Alone, I mean?"

Lucas felt his temper rise up suddenly but Peyton stepped in before he could get a word in. "Sure, no problem."

The blond boy looked at the girl in surprised. She just smiled at him and let go of his hand. "Go on, Luke. I'll be right out." When Lucas didn't budge an inch, Peyton tried again. "I'll be fine, I promise. Just go."

Lucas sent his father a warning glance before sighing loudly and leaving the room. Once the door was closed, Peyton turned expectantly to Dan.

"Listen, you have every right not to like me. But even so, you've been a huge help to my son. And I'm very, very grateful to you, for that," Dan said. "And I want to thank you for that and for all you did for me earlier. Which is kind of why I need you to do me a favor."

"If you need more water, I'm pretty sure that one of the nurses can get that for you," Peyton told him, a bit of caustic personality shining through. "All you need to do is press the call button right there and ask them for it."

Dan laughed. The girl was definitely a spit-fire. "Thank you for the tip, but that wasn't the favor that I needed." The man grew serious and swallowed hard. "Listen, things are going to get tough for the next couple of months and I would really appreciate it if you could sort of be there for Lucas. He's going to need all the friends that he can get and I would feel better if I knew that I could count on you to support him through it."

"Of course I'll be there for him," Peyton told Dan. "But what's going on that Lucas is going to need so much support?"

"Well, I haven't been a very good father to him and the one man who has… well, Keith's gone and from what Karen told me, I don't think he's going to be coming back anytime soon." Dan knew he should be angry at his brother for what he did with Deb, but he couldn't muster anything but regret for the way he treated Keith. "That's going to be tough for him and it going to be even tougher for him to try to deal with me on a regular basis."

Peyton nodded, amazed at the insight of the boy he barely knew. The man had a point. Things were going to be very difficult for Lucas for a while. "I promise that I will try and help him in any way I can," the blond girl said.

"Thank you."

------

Lucas plopped down next to his mother in the waiting area. His mother looked at him in surprise, considering he was attached to a skinny female the last time she had seen him. She took a quick look around. "Where's Peyton?"

"In there," Lucas said, pointing in the direction of Dan's room. "With Dan. Apparently he wanted to talk to her alone."

Karen could tell that Lucas was pretty annoyed with his father about that move. So she decided to change the topic. "So how was it? The visit, I mean."

Lucas sighed. "Pretty good, considering it is Dan we're talking about. But still, he did seem like a completely different person. He started out asking us if we had gotten married. I swear I think my heart stopped."

Karen laughed imagining how the two kids who were so obviously ignorant about each other's feelings reacted to that. She was going to have to ask Dan about it later.

Lucas scowled at his mother. "It's not funny. You know that he sent Peyton out of the room so he could talk to me about her?"

Karen had seen Peyton slip out of the room for a few minutes carrying Dan's water jug, and had been wondering what was going on. Especially since she had offered to refill it for him when she was visiting him and he had told her it was full.

"What did he say?" Karen asked, her curiosity definitely showing.

"He said that he could tell that I had feelings for her," Lucas said, his voice dropping to a whisper as if it was a great secret. "I tried to deny it, of course, but he didn't believe me. But then he said that he was sure that she loves me, too. Can you believe that?"

Karen did believe it, but she knew better than to say anything at the moment. "Of course you told him that he didn't know what he was talking about."

"Well, yeah, something like that," Lucas said. "And then he asked me what _you_ thought about the whole thing."

"What did you say?"

"I told him I didn't want to talk about it anymore and I changed the subject," Lucas lied. And then he changed the subject. "Dan wants me to work at the dealership with Nathan."

"I know," Karen said. Lucas looked at her in surprise. "He asked my permission to ask you. I told him to go ahead."

"You did? Why?"

"Because it would be good opportunity for you to spend time with your brother… and your father," Karen said. "Besides, it's good money."

"I know," Lucas said. "And before you ask, yes, I agreed to the position."

Karen wrapped her arms around him. "That's a good thing, I promise you."

"I sincerely hope you're right, Ma," Lucas said, pulling away from his mother. Just then he saw Peyton leave Dan's room. He was pleased to notice that she didn't look even remotely upset, so at least that was a plus.

Peyton walked over to the mother and son duo and gave them a tired smile. Karen stood up and pulled the younger woman into an embrace. Peyton surrendered herself to the hug, enjoying the feeling of motherly affection.

Lucas waited until the two women broke apart before asking Peyton, "So what did Dan want to talk to you about?"

"He wanted to thank me for being there for you during all of this," she told him. It wasn't a total lie. He really did thank her for that.

"That's it?" Lucas asked. Why would Dan need to speak to her privately just to thank her for being a good friend.

Peyton bit her lip, trying to figure out what to say to that. She really didn't want to divulge everything that Dan had told her. "Well, he also told me to make sure that I got you out of the hospital and made you have some fun."

Karen realizing that Peyton was struggling a little bit there, stepped in. "Actually, that's a great idea. You two deserve to have some fun tonight. Maybe you two can go to that party that you were talking about earlier."

Lucas gave his mother a shocked look. "Did I hear correctly? Did my mother actually suggest that I go to a party?"

"I don't know, Karen," Peyton interjected before the older woman retorted something back to her smartass son. "The party tonight might not be the best idea. Most of Theresa's parties tend to get out of hand."

"Yeah," Lucas agreed, quietly. "Besides, I'm kind of tired tonight. I think I'll just head home and go to bed."

The raven-haired female nodded. "That might be a good idea, actually. You've had a long day and probably need your rest." Karen looked towards Dan's door, before turning to face Peyton. "You drove Lucas here, right?"

Peyton nodded. "Yeah, I did."

"Do you mind dropping him off on your way home?" Karen asked.

"No, I don't mind," she told the older woman. In truth, she had fully expected to have been the one chauffeuring Lucas that night.

"Good," Karen said. She hugged Peyton again before embracing her son. "You two should probably go now."

Lucas gave his mother a tight squeeze and a kiss on the cheek before he let go. "I love you, Ma. I'll see you later, okay?"

"I love you, too, my boy," she said to her son and then towards the blond girl that was driving her son home right then, "Goodbye Peyton."

"Bye, Karen," Peyton said and then the two blondes made their way to the elevators. As they were waiting for a elevator, Peyton turned towards Lucas. "Are you sure about the whole going straight to bed thing?"

"Well, I'm not exactly in the mood to hang around a bunch of drunk and horny teenagers all night," Lucas told Peyton.

"I figured," Peyton told him. "But I was more wondering if you would like to have some company or not."

The elevator doors opened and the two of them stepped inside. "Do you mean you?" Lucas asked, a little surprised.

"Don't sound so horrified," Peyton said, turning away from him so he wouldn't see the hurt on her face. "Forget I even mentioned anything."

"I wasn't horrified," Lucas explained, hurriedly. "Just surprised that you would want to spend time with me, is all."

"Trust me, I'm pretty surprised at that myself," Peyton told him, a bite to her voice. "Let's just drop it, okay?"

"No," Lucas said and he took her hand and pulled it to his chest. "I would love to spend more time with you. I really would."

"You sure?"

"Definitely," Lucas told her.

------

After the teenagers had left, Karen peeked into Dan's room. She found him with his eyes open staring at a spot on the wall. He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't even hear her open the hospital room door.

"How are you feeling?" Karen asked, startling Dan out of his reverie.

"As okay as to be expected," Dan replied. "How are you?"

"Better than you."

"I don't know," Dan said. "I think I'm doing pretty well. I just got the son who despises me to agree to help out at my dealership. I think I might have a chance to repair my relationship with both my sons, Karen."

"I hope you do," Karen told him.

"After all, if I can repair those relationships, it'll give me hope that can repair another one." Dan looked deep into Karen's eyes as he said it.

Karen looked away, her cheeks growing red. "Well, you focus on improving your bond with your sons and then we'll talk, okay?"

"That's all I can ask for."


	6. Getting Back to How We Were

**A/N: Happy Mother's Day! Sorry for the delay, but I did end up getting sick, and my kids got sick, too. As always, thank you so much for all the reviews. This is mostly LP interaction, because let's face it, there hasn't been enough of that in my story so far. Hopefully the update is enjoyable. Anyway, this is for all the mothers out there (and all those who have mothers).**

**_____________________**

On the ride home, Lucas suggested that the two of them hang out at her house. He wasn't quite ready to go home yet, he told Peyton. The blond girl agreed and she started heading towards her house. During the car ride to her house, the two sat, not uttering a word, and just listening to the music. He stayed silent for fear that he would say something that would upset her and she would immediately decide against spending time with him. She, on the other hand, didn't speak because she was too absorbed in her thoughts.

But even so, when they finally pulled up to her home, the quiet began to get a little much. For both of them.

"So..." Lucas began.

"I…" Peyton started at the same time.

The two blondes laughed awkwardly at that.

"What were you going to say?" Peyton asked.

"Nothing, really. What about you?" Lucas threw the question right back at her.

"It wasn't anything important," Peyton admitted. The tension between them was somewhat unbearable. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

This was exactly what Lucas wanted to avoid. "No, it totally was. I know things are a little weird between us right now, but I want to get through this."

Peyton opened the door to her house and let herself in. "Really?"

"You're too important to me for me not to want to sort this out," he told her. "I hate that you and I are stuck in this awkward limbo."

"Me too," Peyton told him. She looked at him from her doorway. "Well, are you coming in or aren't you?"

Lucas grinned. "I was just waiting for an invitation. You know how cranky you get when I intrude on you."

Peyton raised an eyebrow at him. "And when has that ever stop you before?"

"Never," he said. "But I'm not sure I could deal with snarky, violent Peyton right now."

"Then maybe you should stop saying things that make me snarky and violent," Peyton suggested and she closed the door behind him.

"But what doesn't make you snarky and violent?" Lucas asked. "Honestly, Peyt, to accomplish that, I would have to stay quiet."

"There's an idea," she pointed out.

"Just not a very good one," he told her.

Peyton just rolled her eyes, trying to keep the smile that was threatening to appear off her face. She had truly missed this. Their little back-and-forth reminded her how much she enjoyed having Lucas in her life.

Lucas was not fooled by Peyton's attempt to keep looking serious. He felt pretty good at that moment. One little exchange between the two of them and things were already becoming reminiscent of how they used to be.

But the moment was interrupted when Peyton's cell rang. She paled, recognizing the ring tone. Lucas recognized it as well. Of course Brooke would be calling the second he had made any progress with the blond girl.

Peyton flashed him an apologetic smile before answering the phone. "Hey!"

"I didn't get your voice mail," Brooke said, the surprise evident in her voice. "Does this mean that you are no longer in the hospital?"

"Yeah," Peyton told her. "What's up?"

"I called to have a one-sided conversation with your voice mail about how I was going to be heading off to the party now and that you could totally be coming with me if you hadn't felt the need to play chauffer to the snake formally known as Lucas," Brooke told her, pausing slightly to allow her friend to stick up for the boy. When she didn't, Brooke pressed on, "But if you're out that means you can totally come with me! We'll hang out, drink a little, hook up a little and then crash at your house and in the morning we could do more reception stuff."

"As good as that plan sounds, B. Davis, there's only one problem. I'm really not in the mood for a party right now," she regretfully told her friend. "But I would love if we could hang out tomorrow and do stuff for the reception."

"What's going on, P. Sawyer? I know that you aren't party girl usually, but did Lucas do something to upset you?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Peyton looked over at Lucas and sighed. She knew that telling Brooke about him would just be asking for trouble, but she knew that, in the long run, lying to her best friend would be worse. "In fact, he's over at my house right now. We were just going to hang out if you want to join us or something."

Lucas felt his jaw drop. He really hadn't expected to hear Peyton admit that the two of them were together. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad one. He prayed that it was a good thing because he didn't want any more drama that night.

Brooke had to struggle to bite back her jealousy at the thought that Peyton appeared to be picking that two-timing jerk over her. On the other hand, she was relieved that at least her best friend was being honest with her. "Tell me the truth, if he wasn't over there right now, would you be coming to the party with me?"

"Right now? Not a chance," Peyton answered honestly. "But if you really need me to go with you, I'll go, Brooke."

Brooke had to smile and for a split second she actually contemplated telling Peyton that she really needed her that night. But then she realized that if the blond girl was making an effort to better their friendship, so would she. "No, that's okay. Besides, you'd just be a mood killer if I forced you to come if you didn't want to."

"I still want to hang out tomorrow, though."

"Me, too," Brooke assured her. "After all, we have a lot to do if we are going to pull of the best reception for Naley."

"Naley?" Peyton repeated, obviously confused.

"Naley? Nathan and Haley? You know, like Brangelina?" Brooke rolled her eyes at her tragically unhip best friend.

"Anyways," Peyton said, rolling her eyes at her friend. "Just come over after you wake up from your hook-up, okay? I'll have some aspirin waiting for you."

With that little promise, Brooke immediately knew that there was nothing that was going to tear them apart again. The two girls had suffered through far too much to let anything, even Lucas Scott, come between them. The bubbly brunette felt her throat constrict for a second when she realized that she almost forced the person who had been there for her since they were kids out of her life. Peyton knew her better than anyone and never judged her. Brooke Davis was thankful that she smartened up before it was too late to fix their friendship.

"I love you, P. Sawyer," she told her best friend, trying to keep her voice steady. She hoped that the other girl hadn't noticed the second that her voice trembled.

But she had.

"Are you okay?" Peyton asked, her voice heavy with worry. "Let me just drop Lucas off and I'll come right over."

Brooke had to laugh at the fact that she worried that Peyton wouldn't choose her over Lucas. "No, I'm fine. Really. I was just thinking that I was glad I got you back. That's all."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Brooke reassured her. "Now, I have to go to party if I want to get there before all the alcohol is gone."

"Hey, B. Davis?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, too. Hoes over Bros."

Brooke grinned. "See you tomorrow, Best Friend."

"Yeah. Bye, Brooke."

"Bye, Peyton."

With that, the two girls hung up and Peyton turned her attention towards Lucas, who had been standing there, listening to one half of the conversation.

"Is Brooke okay?" Lucas asked, the concern evident in his voice. After all, just because he wasn't in love with the brunette, didn't mean he didn't care for her.

Peyton, on the other hand, took his concern to mean that he _was _in love with her best friend. "Yeah, she's fine. It was nothing, don't worry about it."

Lucas couldn't help but notice that Peyton's tone with him had become a little colder and she definitely seemed a lot more guarded now. He silently cursed Brooke for calling and ruining the whole thing for him.

"Listen, I'll just go home," he told her, convinced that she no longer wanted to spend time with him. "I guess you were right. This was a bad idea."

This time it was her turn to disagree. "No, it wasn't. I'm sorry about all that. Let's just start over, okay?"

As much as it hurt to know that Lucas only wanted to be her friend, Peyton knew it would only hurt worse if she didn't have him in her life at all. Just that small verbal sparring that they taken part in earlier had been enough for Peyton to realize that she definitely needed him around, even if it was as just her friend. It would be difficult for her, she knew, but the alternative wasn't something she even wanted to think about.

"Start over?" Lucas asked Peyton, trying to figure out exactly what she meant by that. "Like the night or the whole thing? Like… Hi, I'm Lucas?"

"Just the night, freak," she told him. "I don't think we have the time to recreate the emotional rollercoaster that is our friendship right now."

"I wouldn't call it an emotional rollercoaster."

"Oh no?" Peyton asked. "What would you call it then?"

"I don't know. A merry-go-round?" Then he cringed remembering the night he had with Nikki on the carousel. "How about a ferris wheel?"

"Actually that fits," Peyton said, as she starting making her way up the stairs and to her room. "Sometimes we're up, sometimes we're down. We keep going round and round but still manage to not go anywhere."

"That was poetic. And depressing, but mostly poetic." Lucas told her, following close behind her. But too close so he have a nice view of those gorgeous legs of hers.

"Yeah, I guess I've been hanging around you for too long." Peyton walked into her room and threw herself on the bed.

"Excuse me," he said, gesturing towards her admittedly gloomy sketches. "I think you've been doing the depressed thing from before you even _knew _me."

"I was actually talking about the poetic part," she told him, with a sneer. "But if you want it like _that, _then I could point out that you do have the uncanny ability to make me feel like slitting my wrists whenever you're around."

"Hey!"

"What? You started it," she said, refusing to look at him.

"Number one… Are you ten years old with the 'you started it?'" Lucas said. "Number two… I so did not start anything."

"Whatever."

"Don't 'whatever' me."

Peyton looked at him. "Whatever," she said again, this time having to bite her lip to keeping from laughing.

He growled and then jumped onto the bed. Lucas scrambled to get on top of her pining her to bed to keep her from escaping what he had in store for her. She screeched in surprise and then started shrieking when he began tickling her.

"No, please… Stop!" Peyton exclaimed through gasps and shrieks of laughter as Lucas continued to torture her.

"Are you going to behave?" Lucas asked, stopping for only a second, but making sure to keep his weigh on her so she couldn't get away.

"Yes!"

"Good," he said, sitting up and releasing her. "Because if you don't, next time… Next time, there will be spanking."

Peyton's eyes widened and her mouth opened. "You wouldn't dare," she said, not entirely sure that he wouldn't.

"Oh yes I would," he told her. "And if you don't believe me, why don't you test me and misbehave right now?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, a smile still on her face and then with all her might, she pushed him off her bed. She cackled as she saw him land unceremoniously on his upper back, his face just showing his shock.

Before he even attempted to get off the floor, he playfully glared at her. "You better start running now, Blondie. Because when I catch you…"

Peyton didn't stick around long enough to hear what he was going to say. She jumped off the bed and sprinted out of her room. She flew down the stairs and stopped long enough to look behind her and see that Lucas was indeed in pursuit of her.

She shrieked and opened her front door and launched herself out of the house. She was grateful that she hadn't taken her car keys out of her jeans. If she could only make it to the Comet, she could get away. She gave a quick glance back at Lucas (which is the same mistake EVERY horror movie victim makes) and she noticed that he was nearly on top of her. She gave out a little yelp and turned her attention back on her destination.

At least she didn't trip.

Only a few more feet, she thought. Then she'd be safely in her car and away from whatever torture Lucas had in mind. Her hand reached out for the door handle when she felt her herself get pulled back away from the car.

He had caught her. She had lost.

Lucas picked her up and deposited her on his shoulder, all the while she was giggling and protesting. He smirked as he felt her wriggling there, her ass mere inches from his face. He brought up his free hand a gave her a swat on her ass that made her jump.

"Lucas!" Peyton screeched, surprised that he had actually spanked her.

"I warned you," he reminded her before swatting her ass again. He brought her back into the house, closing and locking the door behind him.

"I know, but I really didn't think you were actually going to do it," she admitted, still giggling at the fact that they were acting this way.

"Are you kidding?" Lucas asked as he swatted her ass yet again, eliciting another shriek from the blonde on his shoulder. "There was no way that I was giving up that chance. In fact, I was going to do it, even if you _hadn't _done anything."

"Why?" Peyton asked before Lucas dumped her off his shoulder onto her bed. "Oof! Hey! Gentle there, jackass."

Lucas sat down next to her and swatted her ass again. "That one was for calling me a jackass. All the others were because I always thought that you needed a good spanking."

Peyton rolled over and glared at him. And not a playful glare, either. "I'm not the one that done things that need punishing lately."

Lucas sighed. Of course it got back around to that. He wondered if she'd ever be able to let it go. That when he got the idea. "Would you feel better if you spanked me?"

Her eyes widened at the suggestion and then narrowed immediately as she asked, "What? Are you being serious right now?"

"Like a heart attack," Lucas said, before visibly cringing. "That phrase is never going to be usable again, is it?"

"Maybe," she said. "In a few years. But back to the matter at hand… Were you serious about me spanking you?"

"Yes," he told her. "But under one condition."

"What's that?"

"That you totally forgive me for all the stupid things I did and that you can't keep bringing them up every time I piss you off."

Peyton thought about it for a second. "That seems fair, I guess. After all, experience shows that you just do some other stupid thing in the near future that I can use instead."

"Well then, I'll just have to let you spank me for that when it happens."

"If you're going to have me spank you for every time you screw up, I think I'm going to have to get myself a paddle," Peyton said, laughing a little at the notion. "Like one those that Ben Affleck had in 'Dazed and Confused.'"

"Now I know what to get you for your birthday, then," he joked back. "But, all joking aside, if this will help us move pass all this crap, I really want you to do it."

"All right," she said. "Lie on your stomach, then."

Lucas grinned at her in a way that made her knees buckle. But she wasn't going to allow his charming smile distract her from her task at hand. He did as she had commanded, sticking his butt in the air and waving it a bit.

She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the sight. So, to make sure she didn't completely lose all the anger she had for him, she tried occupying herself by searching for something that would make an adequate substitution for a paddle.

And she found it.

It was a clipboard, with a hard wooden back. One good swing with this and she wouldn't be surprised if he never do anything to piss her off again.

When she turned her attention back to the blond boy on her bed, she noticed that he was still up to his ridiculous antics. She took one look at his swinging ass and then a look at the clipboard and she almost lost her nerve.

"What's going on back there?" Lucas asked. "Are you too scared to go through with it or are you just hypnotized by the majesty that is my ass?"

Peyton grit her teeth and took a handle of the clipboard and swung for the fences. The clipboard made a loud, solid _**WHACK**_ when it came in contact with the boy's ass. The noise made her jump but the impact made Lucas react far more unrepentantly.

"Shit!" Lucas screamed and rolled away, gingerly touching his injured rump. "What the fuck did you hit me with?"

Peyton sheepishly held up the clipboard, once again fighting to keep a solemn expression. She wasn't quite sure how he'd react if she started laughing right now. But he was sure making it hard for her to stay serious with the way he was acting.

"Jeez," he said, looking at her. "You should have gone out for the softball team or something, Babe Ruth. You have a hell of a swing there."

She felt herself blush and turned away to not give him the satisfaction that he had gotten to her like that. "So, are you going to continue whining or are you going to get back on the bed so we can continue your punishment?"

Lucas went over to her and pulled the clipboard out of her hands. "I think that last one was enough, don't you?"

"I don't know," she told him. "I'm still feeling a bit angry at you."

And it was true that she hadn't completely gotten rid of all her anger. While the spank with the clipboard had surprisingly managed to ease away a lot of the anger she had for him, she still had some residual feeling left. Probably because she was still upset that they could be like this with each other and he still would prefer her best friend over her. But, she had to admit to herself, maybe it wasn't fair for her to punish him for something like that.

"Never mind," she said, sitting on her bed. Suddenly her anger dissolved but was replaced by something no more enjoyable, sadness.

"Hey," Lucas said, as he carefully sat down beside her. "What's going on in that curly-haired head of yours?"

"Nothing. It's nothing, really."

Lucas knew her well enough to know that it was most certainly _something_. But he also knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere by just pushing her. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him.

Peyton sighed softly, allowing herself to be soothed by his closeness. His smell was intoxicating and she felt a little dizzy and lightheaded as she breathed in his scent. His heart raced as she snuggled closer to him. In spite of the innocent intent in him pulling her close, his body reminded him that he was still nothing more than a teenaged boy in close proximity to the girl he had wanted for years. As he busied himself trying to prevent his arousal from becoming apparent, she struggled to keep from looking up at him and kissing him.

"I missed you," she told him. And even though she didn't elaborate on that, he knew she wasn't talking about his short trip to Charleston.

"I kinda missed me, too," he admitted. "But most of all, I've missed this, Peyt. And it sucks to know it was all my fault."

"It's fine now," Peyton told him. "All is forgiven."

He kissed the top of her head, even though he longed for his lips to touch hers. "Thank you. I promise that I won't upset you anymore."

She knew that it was a promise he would not be able to keep, but didn't tell him so. She wouldn't tell him that him loving Brooke would hurt her because she wanted to be with him. No, it was better for everyone involved if she just stayed quiet on the subject and just enjoyed the feeling of the blond boy's arms wrapped around her.

There they sat for an indeterminable amount of time just enjoying the feeling of their bodies admitting to each other what neither of them had the courage to say out loud. Who knows how long the two would have stayed there holding each other if they had not been interrupted by a ringing cell phone… this time, his.

Lucas groaned loudly as he regretfully pulled away from Peyton and fished his phone from his jeans. He shot her the very same apologetic smile that she had gave him earlier when she had answered Brooke's phone call.

"Hello?"

"Luke, hey!" It was Haley. She sounded a little out of breath, like she had been running. But Lucas figured running wasn't exactly the strenuous activity that she had partaken it to cause her to be short of breath. After all she was a newlywed on her honeymoon with his sex-crazed brother… And that when he immediately stopped that particular train of thought.

"What's up?" Lucas asked.

"I was just wondering how you were doing. I mean, did you talk to Dan?"

"I did talk to him and I'm fine, Hales."

"You sure?" Haley asked, full of concern. She was in full-on best friend mode at the moment. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I don't want to talk about it because there's nothing to talk about. The visit went fine and I'm going to be working with Nathan at the dealership."

"Good! I'm glad you agreed. And nothing else happened?"

Lucas sighed. "Nothing else happened. I'm kinda running out of ways to tell you that I'm fine. Listen, you shouldn't be worrying about me right now. You're on your honeymoon, remember? You shouldn't be thinking about your husband's brother."

Haley laughed. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right with everything. I called Karen and got her voicemail, so I figured she was still at the hospital and I was worried about you being all alone and everything."

"Well, stop worrying. I'm not alone," he informed his very nosy best friend. "I'm over at Peyton's right now."

"Oh! Well, it's late and I shouldn't have been bothering you anyway. Bye, Luke!" Haley then hung up without letting the blond boy getting a word in edgewise.

"Bye, I guess," Lucas said as he closed his phone and put it back in his pocket. "That was weird. I mean, weird even for Haley."

"What was?" Peyton asked.

"The second I told her I was with you, she immediately hurried off the phone," he related. "Which is very unlike Haley."

Peyton had to agree that it was a bit strange. "Maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe something suddenly came up that she needed to take care of."

Lucas looked over at her and gave her an incredulous look. "What could possibly have come up at this hour at night?"

Peyton smirked. "Nathan, for one," she pointed out.

He was horrified. He couldn't believe that she was implying what she was. "Peyton!"

"What?" Peyton asked him, the very picture of innocence. "I was just stating the obvious. After all it's their honeymoon and-"

"Stop! Don't say another word!" Lucas commanded Peyton, interrupting her before she could say anything further that would forever scar him. He then tackled her, just in case she decided to disobey him.

Peyton chuckled. "All right! I'm sorry, I won't say anything else about Haley and Nathan's having wild hot sex." She laughed when he glared at her for that. "Goodness, I didn't realize that you were such a prude, Mr. Scott.

"I am not a prude," he defended himself. "I just don't want to think about my best friend and my brother having… doing stuff together, okay?"

"Prude."

"I can't be a prude," he told her. "After all, I dated Brooke, didn't I?"

It was her turn to glare at him. He mentally slapped his forehead. What was it about Peyton Sawyer that always made him stick his foot in his mouth.

"Sorry," he said, getting off of her.

"Don't apologize," Peyton said, trying to smile… but failing. "You made a joke. A totally lame one, but a joke nonetheless."

"It wasn't lame!"

"Dude, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but your talent does not lie in the way of comedy," she told him. "Maybe you should stick to basketball."

"Because I'm so good at _that,_ right?" Lucas asked, remembering the last game he played. The one that they had lost because of his missed shot.

"Hey, don't say that," she said, pulling him around to look at her. "You're a great player who was playing even before he had fully recuperated from a shoulder injury. And let's not forget that you were being coached by pre-heart attack Dan."

"Actually, you have a point there," Lucas said, before lying down on Peyton's bed, staring up at the ceiling. "But I can't keep going through life blaming Dan for everything rotten thing that happens in my life."

Peyton laid herself down next to him. She was on her side, so she could look at him while they talked. "Especially if he stays the way he was earlier. It's going to be kind of hard to blame him if he actually did turn over a new leaf."

The two of them were silent for a moment. Lying there in Peyton's bed, with the curly haired girl next to him… it was the first time since arriving back at Tree Hill that he actually felt like he was home. Suddenly, he was exhausted.

He turned his face to look over at Peyton and noticed that she, too, was fighting off sleep. Lucas smiled and kissed her forehead. Her lips curled up in a smile at his little display of affection. He wondered if he should just leave her to sleep or if he could try to convince her to let him stay because he was way too tired to even think about getting out of her bed.

She, knowing him far too well, just scooted over a few inches and laid her head on his chest. "Good night, Luke."

He took a deep breath, happy knowing that they somehow managed to get back to something like this that night. "Good night, Peyt."

And then there was sleep.

-----


End file.
